Peaceful Times
by Weezila
Summary: Yeah, or not. A high school with 36 demigods intermixed in with regular teenagers, one hell of a bombshell on the mortal world, and a lot of figuring out just what the Hades is wrong with the new Biology teacher. Just because the wars are over doesn't mean life suddenly got any easier... or any less strange.
1. Little bit of Paridise

So far as the mortals of Goode high school were concerned, the summer vacation was generally uninteresting.

September first rolled around, and school was yet again upon them. Summer jobs were left for the school year, bathing suits and beach towels were stored away, notebooks and other supplies were bought, parents were pleaded with to let their teenagers drive their cars, and teachers set up to put their teaching plans into action. All of this happening with the vague feeling of sadness at the close of the three month break, and a collective sigh as the school's main doors were opened wide, the familiar green and white banners welcoming new freshmen and praising the new seniors back, greeting everyone milling aimlessly around the front courtyard.

The courtyard had been re-done over the summer, much to the pleasure of the students who looked forward to enjoying their free periods and lunches out on the new greens rather than cooped up in the school. It was quite impressive actually, they had somehow managed to take an old parking lot, put a thick brick wall around it, place a huge wrought-iron gate as the entrance, somehow turn the asphalt to lush green grass laced with stepping stone paths, concrete walkways and beautiful gardens full of flower bushes, big and small trees, bird houses, fountains—the works, and all in the middle of New York City much less.

One would be dropped off in the bussing lane outside and walk the sidewalk to the iron gate, passing through the main walkway to the huge concrete circle where the school's flag pole reached up to the sky, benches dotting around it marking the place where many had chosen to group together. You could walk off down other pathways, find new benches and small clearings in the gardens and wildlife of the small utopia, and everywhere you went you'd see the signs warning any and everyone to back off from hurting any of the plants.

Now, these are teenagers we're talking about, but something about those signs made everyone almost afraid to step off the paths and into the gardens.

So, impressive as it was, most avoided touching any of the nature that'd miraculously grown over the past three months.

The only person _not_ surprised at the transformation, but altogether ecstatic none the less, was Percy Jackson.

"G-man, you've out-done yourself." He gasped, and his best friend chuckled beside him.

"I figured New York could use a little more nature, what with all the changes going on." Grover beamed. "Just don't mess with anything: the dryads will kick your butt into next year. I practically had to beg them to let me move them here." He sighed, waving as a tree nymph poked her head out of the nearest cherry tree as he passed. She giggled and disappeared again, and none of the mortals roaming around seemed to notice anything.

"Please tell me there'll be more places like this in the world," Percy gaped, still staring in amazement at the little piece of paradise the satyr managed to create in three months.

Grover sighed. "I'm trying, I really am. We decided the best plan of action to re-building the wild was protecting what we had, and focusing as much wildlife as we could into small, protected areas like this. It's all manicured now, but in a few months it'll be wild again. At least, so long as these kids don't go messing with it." He frowned at a pair of passing girls, who were babbling excitedly and would look more at home in a mall than a forest.

"Relax," Percy brushed him off, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Lou Ellen said the protection spells on here were strengthened specifically for teenagers. If not, at least while I'm here I can make sure nothing happens."

Grover rolled his eyes, but seemed mildly mollified by that.

"Whatever dude, I know you're going to forget in a week." He laughed and Percy frowned, considering the likely hood of that. "Anyway, I better be off soon, I just wanted to show you around. Here…" He dragged the taller boy over to a side path near the building, navigating the stepping-stone path with ease despite his fake feet and decoy crutches.

The path curved as it approached the far brick wall blocking it off from the rest of the city, and continue to make its way around the massive garden. Grover stepped off the main path just before the walkway started to curve against the wall, and seemed to disappear.

Percy blinked for a moment, before realizing it was the Mist messing with him. He forced himself to really _look_, and saw Grover standing on a small path jutting out from the main one that he hadn't noticed before. It seemed to come to a dead end after ten feet or so, right at the corner of the brick barrier, but that wasn't quite as important to Percy once he realized the satyr was talking to the thick curtain of honey suckle that flowed down that walls.

"Hey beautiful," Grover greeted the wall.

"Underwood, you have a girlfriend!" A female voice scolded lightly back, and a nymph poked her head out of the curtain with a big grin on her face.

"Honey, this is Percy." Grover motioned back to the demigod standing behind him. "Perce, this is Honey, she's agreed to play guardian for us."

The nymph beamed brightly. She had pastel yellow skin and tightly curled ivy-green hair that bounced with every movement, pale purple eyes shining happily at them.

"Oooo! The son of Poseidon going to school here? Oh, we're going to have _so much_ fun this year!" She squealed.

"Nice to meet you," Percy smiled back easily and she tittered happily. "So… what are you playing guardian for?" He asked.

She punched Grover in the arm and he made a noise of complaint, but she brushed it off. "Grover Underwood, you didn't tell him what you've done?!" She demanded.

"I wanted it to be a surprise!" He defended himself.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, you're impossible! Come here, son of Poseidon, we have much to discuss!" She snagged Percy's arm and pulled him forward as the curtain of honey suckle behind her opened up like the curtains on a stage being pulled back for a performance.

Percy felt his jaw drop in shock, and yet another garden, maybe half the size of the main one (but still, that meant it was easily still the size of a football field) yet equally as beautiful, stretched out before him.

"It's a sanctuary, in honor of Pan." Grover explained behind him, but Percy couldn't tear his eyes away from it to look at his friend. "I figured here, right down the road from Olympus, and with all the changes coming in the next couple months, this'd be as good a place as any to put it. Hermes and Dionysus helped with the Mist and the, uh, magical concealment from space so mortals could never find it. It's as well protected as Camp is, so it's a safe demigod hideout too."

"Grover… forget what I said earlier, _now_ you've really out done yourself." Percy gasped, seemingly unable to close his jaw.

He felt Grover straighten up in pride beside him.

"Glad you like it. Satyrs will be all over this place in a month, I'm sure, so you and any other demigods visiting will have to share." He informed him happily. "Respect the plants, no littering, yadda, yadda, yadda, like you'd ever do something—note the sarcasm— just make sure others follow the rules, or I'll have to hunt them down, beat them half to death with a bat, and then force them to watch the nature channel for two weeks straight." He explained quickly with a smirk. "Now, Honey will keep all mortals and un-nature friendly people out and explain everything later, but for now, I need to get going and _you_ need to get to class. Bell rings in ten minutes."

Percy finally tore his eyes away from the beautiful garden and grinned at his best friend.

"Thanks for this, man. You did _amazing,_ and I know you're gonna do Pan proud in Peru or wherever you're going." He said and Grover blushed deeply, shifting awkwardly.

"Thanks dude… hey, I'll be back for earth day, I'll catch you around, okay?" He said.

"Sure thing, G-man." Percy grinned at the mention of the holiday satyrs treated like their Christmas, which still amused him no matter how many times it was brought up. Grover went to clutch his arm in farewell, but Percy threw the _guys-are-too-cool-to-hug_ policy out the window and just hugged him.

The wars were over, there was peace in the Greek world, Grover had work out in both worlds waiting for him, and Percy had work do get to in the coming months (not to mention English homework that would probably kill him first before the work actually showed up). They were best friends and always would be, but this was a goodbye of sorts, and a more final one than Percy sailing off to the doors of death. They were growing up, they would maybe see each other a couple times a year from now on, and it was kind of a depressing thought.

So Grover hugged him back and they laughed as they parted ways.

"You have until April 22nd to get Peru sorted." Percy told him as they walked back to the front entrance.

Grover laughed. "Yeah , right, I'll get right on that…If that's so, then you have until April 22nd to get everything here settled."

Now Percy rolled his eyes. "Right…" They laughed again, and Percy's smile got a bit sad as he waved his best friend goodbye as he walked up the front step of Goode high school.

_Here goes nothing…_ he sighed as he slipped in the front doors, quickly searching out his next class before the bell rang.


	2. Sleep Talking

"Welcome back, we hope you all had a good summer…"

Dr. West started, and just like that the entire student body went to sleep with their eyes open. Percy tried to keep an ear open to listen to the information he was waiting to hear, but his mind kept spacing out.

"Is he gonna mention it?" Rachel whispered beside him, and Percy shook his head once to focus on her.

"What? Oh… uh, I'm not sure."

Rachel gave him a look. "_You're_ one of the ones arranging this whole thing, shouldn't you know?"

He shrugged. "Everyone keeps saying I'm I charge, but it feels an awful lot like Annabeth and Chiron got it all covered. I'm pretty much only good for getting the gods to listen."

Rachel snorted. "Yeah right, they like Annabeth more than you now." She teased, and Percy rolled his eyes.

"Well, thank the _gods_ for that." He muttered, and she giggled.

"…the Delphi school…"

Both their heads snapped around to give their absolute attention to Dr. West again.

"… a school for special needs kids, that unfortunately burned down last month. Fortunately, no one was harmed, but Goode as agreed to add their student body into our own. Starting October first they will also be attending Goode, so I expect each and every one of you to make them feel welcome here. Now, we've also been getting some complaints about dress code violations…"

"Special needs kids?" Rachel scoffed under her breath. "They could have made it sound a bit better. I shudder to think what everyone's picturing right now at who's going to show up here next month." She sighed.

"I doubt anyone's picturing anything, Red, they're all asleep. Speaking of…" He muttered, leaning his head on his hand and staring blankly at Dr. West as he droned on. She rolled her eyes but settled in to draw idly on her jeans.

If only it were October already…


	3. Cookies

"Mom! I'm home!" Percy said, dumping his backpack on the living room couch and moving towards the kitchen where he could hear her moving about.

"Hey hon, how was your first day?" Sally smiled at him, placing blue cookies in honor of the first day back at school (in which Percy had been attending for THREE consecutive years today-thankyouverymuch) on the kitchen table.

"As thrilling as school ever is," he supplied with a grin. "Though, I did learn that the Delphi school for special needs kids burned down last month and that their student body will be joining Goode in October." He said happily, and Sally beamed.

"Oh that's excellent! Do you think Chiron did it that way on purpose, or it was a Mist cover?"

Percy shrugged. "I think it might be Chiron manipulating the Mist. Everyone keeps bugging me that I should know all this, but I swear Annabeth had everything drawn out somewhere- they should really be asking her." He sighed, slumping into kitchen chair.

"Percy, it _was_ your idea." Sally reminded him gently with a light flick to the ear as she moved past him to the fridge.

He shrugged good naturedly. "Yeah, but my idea's been hijacked by a centaur and Athena. Not that I'm complaining: I'm not even going _near_ that argument."

She chuckled behind him. "Are you going out for the swim team again this year?" She asked.

"Definitely. Though, I might cut back on the amount of events I'm doing, I want to be able to hang out with everyone when they get here."

"Just be sure to balance your demigod friends with your mortal friends, Percy, you don't want to be devoting anything to one world. Perhaps your camp friends will even enjoy your swim team." Sally said, taking a seat across from him and handing him a glass of milk, dipping a cookie in a glass of her own.

"Yes, because Clarisse would _love_ eight jocks who think they're in charge just for being good swimmers." Percy laughed. "She'd beat them to a pulp in seconds."

He loved his swim mates, he really did, but they were all the typical 'jock' type: they liked to be in charge, they liked to show how manly they could be.

Now, Percy had commanded armies, fought giants and titans, held up the sky, and been on the elite team to battle the ancient earth goddess, and knew a thing or two about how incredibly stupid the mono-e-mono 'who's stronger' conflict could be from his co-leadership struggles with Jason, and because of it tended to just sort of go with the flow with his mortal friends. His demigod friends knew him as some great leader, and they followed and listened/respected him without even meaning to, and he wondered how that'd clash with his 'low man on the totem pole' status on the swim team.

He liked being in both situations—the leader and the follower—but at different times. It seemed like he was about to have his two worlds smashed together and just had to hope they mixed.

Then again, everyone was going to have to do that, weren't they?

"All I'm saying is that you need to be particularly careful this year about balancing you time and responsibilities." Sally warned. "You did really well in school last year-"

"For me." He muttered, but she ignored him as if he hadn't spoken.

"And you need to not only focus on all these people, but your school work and the work for the Greek world, ok? Just promise me that."

He nodded with a weak smile. "Sure, I promise to give it all a go. This year is already turning out _fantastic."_ He sighed heavily.

She laughed lightly. "It will get easier once things get under way. I suppose the date is set for sometime after November then?"

"Oh, that one I _do_ know, but don't tell the others- technically they're not supposed to know about any of that yet. Scarily enough, their _parents_ want to be the ones to tell them, so, let's see how _that_ one goes." Percy smirked. "But yeah, it's set for the day Thanksgiving break starts, that way the demigods will be situated into school and the mortals will have a whole week or so to sort everything out before all the kids have to deal with it."

"Smart." Sally nodded in agreement.

"Annabeth- not me." Percy smiled.

"But that means you will be on Olympus for Thanksgiving?" she fretted.

Percy bit his lip. "I really don't know… technically, it should have nothing to do with me at that point, the gods want to keep out identities hidden for as long as possible, so everyone can ease into this. Besides, I'm on Olympus every other day now, I think they can spare me for _one_ day: by that time we should have everything all set and ready, and it will only be a matter of getting everything in motion. Demigods shouldn't be needed for that." He reasoned.

"Good. This will be one of our first Thanksgivings without some impending prophecy or Apocalypse, and I want to enjoy it. And more importantly, we will have a dozen demigods without someplace to go for the holiday, and I'm planning a big dinner. I've already called Chiron and said that any year-rounders at camp on Thanksgiving day are going to be forcibly in attendance." She said brusquely.

Percy blinked at her. "Ok, first off, you're priorities are messed up, and secondly, that's really nice of you, Mom." He smiled, and her business-like attitude melted into a big grin.

"Why thank you honey, and I don't think my priorities are in any way skewed." She blinked innocently, and he rolled his eyes.

"You just wait until you have thirty odd ADHD demigods trying to cram in here and see if you rethink that statement." Percy scoffed.

She waved him off. "Family is family, Percy, no one is going to be told to go away, even if there is physically no space left, got it?" She smirked.

Percy shook his head slowly, but with a smile. "You and Hestia would get along just great, you know that? Forget that, you already have the gods in your favor! Hermes and Apollo all but beg me to bring them some of your cookies every time I see them, Demeter and Hera adore you, Artemis and Athena think you're brilliant, and Zeus grudgingly doesn't hate you—which for him is practically a seal of approval—along with Dad which was a given, and even _Ares_ thinking you're cool for shooting a monster with a shot gun—you've somehow managed to become friends with every god I ever ticked off!" Percy complained.

"You forgot that Aphrodite loves to take me shopping." Sally smirked. "Something about being retro-beautiful? Not that I'm complaining, but she seems to find more enjoyment than I do in it." She mused.

"I'm staying _far_ away from Aphrodite, she scares the Hades out of me." Percy shuddered. "I still don't know how you did that." He frowned.

"You mother is cool, Percy, accept it." She said smugly, standing and taking the glasses and plate of cookies away.

"Oh, I never doubted it, trust me." Percy said, flashing her a grin.

"Good boy. I've trained you well." She nodded happily to him. "Oh, and since you reminded me, you're taking the rest of these to Hermes and Apollo next time you're on Olympus." She said, pointing to the containers she was slipping the extra cookies into.

"And this is why they like you more than me." He smirked.


	4. Fish Out of Water

**Hello Internet. **

**This chapter may seem a little random, but its mainly for character building and to introduce the swim team/Percy's life in the mortal world. Everyone loves a good "reveal" fanfic where mortals are astonished about how awesome the demigods are or where Annabeth shows up at Goode after no one believing Percy that he had a girlfriend, and that is exactly what I plan to do except for the fact some of the storylines I want to do don't include the entire student body finding out about a godly aspect of the demigods… and still, I want some mortals around to shock when necessary, so the swim team is my best idea of how to do that…**

**All that may not make much sense right now, but it will eventually. The point is, the mortal-ish swim team is important, and I personally like these characters a lot. They remind me of my own friends **

**Enjoy.**

**0000000000000**

"Uh-uh, there is _no_ freaking WAY that's the same guy." Kyle blinked as the new recruits of the swim team started filing in. The old team was there, sort of grouped together on the stands since they were all friends from last year, and the new people trying out sort of sitting in pairs or alone as they waited for the coach to come in.

A tall, sun-tanned boy with messy dark hair and vibrant green eyes was talking animatedly to a pair of new try-outs sitting up front, obviously trying to make them feel welcome. The raven haired boy looked like he was born to be standing next to the body of water behind him, relaxed and confident like he already knew he had this in the bag, and yet deep in some conversation with two boys who looked about ready to cry they were so nervous for the coming trials.

"He's talking to brand new freshman like they're long lost friends, of _course_ it's him." Todd rolled his eyes at his friend's antics, but secretly also noted the sudden transformation their teammate seemed to have undergone over the summer.

"He's _too_ friendly." Alexa smirked. "Gonna get himself killed one day, being all-trusting in his faith in humanity." She teased dramatically.

"Hey, that's the _only_ reason he's managed to put up with _us_ for this long!" Kyle cackled and they rolled their eyes at him.

"But I don't get it: he looked completely different last year too." Juliana frowned.

"Yeah, then he goes and disappears mid-year and _poof!_ –returns out of the blue looking like he just stepped off a damn movie set." Kyle grinned. "Oh, shut up, you were all thinking it!" He howled at the disapproving looks they sent his way.

"I know I was." Tilly said approvingly, and the guys looked uncomfortable while the Alexa and Juliana laughed at their expressions.

"Please, you have a boyfriend, and I hardly think_ Jackson_ is your type." Juliana scoffed.

Tilly hummed noncommittally. "Yeah, suppose you're right… too nice he is, ain't he?"

"Oh that's right, you like guys who are complete douche bags." Jasper rolled his eyes and promptly got cuffed over the head (none too gently).

"Jackson! Get your butt over here!" Kyle shouted, shattering the relative calm of the pool and making several people jump- Percy excluded. The green-eyed boy glanced up from where he stood talking as if he'd been expecting Kyle's outburst and grinned at them. They saw him say goodbye to the newbies and the oh-so-predictable "_good luck"_ on his lips as he made his way over to them.

"You shouldn't encourage them," Kyle said bluntly as Percy slipped into a seat beside him. "Those two are toothpicks- they won't make it past the first round." He declared.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Oh, give 'em a chance will you? I didn't look like much when I first tried out, did I?" He defended his new acquaintances in true Percy fashion.

"Yeah, but you're a freakin' fish out of water," Todd laughed. "Didn't matter if you weren't the fastest, you've got the endurance and the breath stamina to shame a whale."

"Which we have yet to see a re-match to, seeing as you went and vanished off the face of the earth last year." Alexa accused with a finger jammed on Percy's chest, who looked properly abashed at that statement.

"Family trouble." He shrugged. "I went and spent some time with my family on my dad's side." He explained.

"Where? You look like you got a sweet tan outta that deal." Kyle approved, pinching Percy's arm and quickly dodged the half-hearted punch Percy threw his way.

"Greece." He half smirked, half grimaced.

"Ooo, exotic." Tilly said dryly in a bored voice.

Percy smiled knowingly at her. "And where did _you_ go over break then, Til?" He asked dutifully, and she lit up in excitement while the others sighed heavily and tuned her out as she launched into a detailed story of her camping trip to Canada.

She blabbed on and on until Kyle and Todd started making faces behind her back and dramatically acting out everything she said while Alexa, and the Hess twins shook with silent laughter. Percy, who was facing Tilly and nodding politely along with her story, was trying really, _really_ hard to ignore them but having a rough go of it.

"…yeah, and then they were all like '_you can't be here this is federal Canadian property and blah, blah, blah'!_ And I mean _seriously_, like we would've known we were suddenly in Canada instead of the states- it wasn't like there was a road side or anything saying '_Welcome to Canada idiots!'_ it was just a bunch of trees and snow and stuff. I mean, it wasn't our fault then, was it? Did _you_ know there was a part of Alaska only ten miles wide?" She suddenly asked Percy, who seemed to snap out of his daze of trying not to laugh/pay attention to those behind her and seemed shocked at her question.

"Uh, actually I did." He blurted out, and then blushed a bit. "But, uh, I didn't that first time." He admitted to sooth her, and she seemed comforted by that fact.

"Alright! Line up!" Coach Bensil shouted, striding in and letting his already loud voice echo sharply around the vast tiled room. The old swim team stood and made their way down the bleachers at a relatively good pace, while the newbies scrambled for their lives in a panic.

"Oh, shut up." Percy chuckled under his breath as Kyle and Jasper snickered at the eager freshmen, and the not-so-eager but still nervous-looking older students trying out yet again after not making it in previous years. Percy went over the familiar faces he'd seen in past years, and remembered their old try-outs. Not that he liked to discourage people, but he could remember clearly where all of these kids went wrong before, and just by a simple glance Percy could tell they hadn't worked on fixing it. Their muscles were unchanged, their center of gravity still shifted, their breathing still not what it needed to be.

They were not swimmers, not naturally at least, and apparently they hadn't tried to improve themselves since last year. Percy was all for determination, but doing something repeatedly without making change and expecting a different result was just plain stupid. In fact, he was fairly certain that was the literal definition of insanity.

He did, however, spot two boys -obviously freshmen- who seemed to hold themselves the right way. They were natural swimmers: their muscles built up in the right places, their breathing deep and steady, even at rest.

"Ten bucks that girl gets in." Todd nodded to a girl near the end of the line.

"I think that blonde guy." Alexa chimed in, and the other veteran team members quickly put in their two cents. Percy rolled his eyes but eventually gave in.

"The guy in the red shirt and the guy with the baseball cap." He said, and they nodded their agreement.

"Its settled then: you are all buying me pizza after this." Kyle said confidently, and Juliana flicked him on the ear, but the coach began to talk again before he could respond.

"Listen up! There are ten spots on the team—no, no complaining, those are the rules!—and you will be going through five tests to see if you're up to par. Now, does everyone have their own suit and change of clothes? If you don't, raise your hand." Two kids in the back lifted their hands. "Right, you're done, try again next year!"

The kids looked shocked, but slowly started making their way out of the pool area with dejected expressions.

"Ok, second test!" Bensil said. "I want to see what potential I've got here, so you'll be doing a lap to prove you can actually swim decently. Go get changed, you have ten minutes." Everyone broke from their small gathering and rushed to the lockers rooms.

"That was better than last year- how many didn't make it past that round? Six or something?" Todd snickered.

"They're getting better, but not by much." Juliana sighed.

"On the bright side, one of the kids to leave was Kyle's pick." Alexa chirped and Kyle grumbled under his breath with a light blush on his cheeks.

"Damn kid let me down!" He howled and they laughed at him.

"Come on, dude." Percy laughed, shoving him into the locker room ahead of him. "Watch you be the one to get out there late and sent home." He teased and Kyle rolled his eyes, but picked up the pace a little anyway.

Back out at the pool, Bensil had already set up ten lanes in the pool and was positioning the first kids out there on the spot as everyone else filed in on the bleachers again.

"Now, you'll all be doing a simple freestyle: no fancy stuff , no _doggy paddle_—and yes, I've seen kids try that before—you can dive or jump in, but I'm marking you on form and your _potential_ to be trained into doing better, got it? Right then, on my mark…" He called, waited until they were all in their positions, then let a blast on his whistle go. Some kids dived, others just jumped in, and he took notes on his clipboard as they swam through the lanes.

"Slow." Kyle dismissed under his breath.

"Out of form." Alexa agreed.

"Not straight…" Jasper pondered in amusement, tilting his head and watching a boy as he swam diagonally and right into his neighbor's lane, and the girl swimming without paying attention to where she was going, ran right into him.

"Ouch," Percy grimaced, watching their heads collide.

"Good God, please may the next group be better." Tilly huffed.

"We sound like swimming snobs." Percy smirked. "I'm sure there was a point in our lives we were that bad… we've just had the opportunities to get better." He reasoned.

The other six stared at him with disbelieving expressions. "What!?" He demanded.

Alexa shook her head sadly. "You're too nice. If you had your way, they'd all be on the team." She scoffed.

"And we'd never win again." Kyle sighed dramatically.

Percy rolled his eyes. "Right, uh-huh, because they could under no condition ever _get better_, now could they?"

"Percy, half of these kids have been trying out for the past three years, and they've _never gotten better!_ They knew Bensil's standards, and they did nothing." Tilly complained. "I don't pity those who don't get in: aside from the poor freshmen who don't know what's coming, it's their own damn fault for not improving."

Percy couldn't deny that logic, having thought it himself not ten minutes ago, but he still didn't like people who obviously wanted something being repeatedly denied it because they were deemed 'not good enough'. It irked him.

Still, he knew the reality of the situation, and resigned himself to just watch silently as Bensil lined up another round.

Two rounds later, Percy, Alexa, Tilly and Jasper were grouped to swim together and they took their stances. Percy inhaled the chlorine scent of the air, smiling a bit at the memories it gave him. It would be best if it were salt water, but chlorine water had grown to feel like a second, less natural home in its own right over the past two years.

"On my mark…" Coach blew the whistle and they launched off from the platforms with ease, though Percy heard a newbie jump in regularly through the water. He made a note to make sure no one was swimming into his lane, just as a precaution.

Now, one might say it was totally unfair that a son of Poseidon was trying out for the swim team, and one would be absolutely correct if it weren't for the fact that that demigod was Percy Jackson. Percy held his breath like a mortal would, turning up for air as needed, and let the water currents run their own paths, relishing in their smooth movements but not reaching out to control them. He kicked through the water under his own power, he pulled and concentrated on his form without letting instincts taking over and jet him through the water at abnormal speed.

He ignored the pull in his stomach to simply let the water work for him, focusing on swimming like a mortal.

Now, he was still a demigod with inhuman stamina and endurance, not to mention the strength and agility to which he had absolutely no control over. This meant that he didn't even need his powers to be an excellent swimmer, even if not the best of his team.

And he liked it that way: he liked trying to improve himself naturally, trying to challenge himself for the workout instead of just to show off. Todd and Alexa were far better swimmers than him naturally, and he enjoyed the challenge of trying to best not only them, but his own records _without_ cheating. In practice sometimes, he even made the water currents work _against_ him, to build up his strength. He swam for himself, and his teammates, not just to win.

Just like that the first test was over and Percy was regretfully climbing out of the pool with a grinning Alexa and Jasper on either side of him.

"God I missed this." Tilly sighed happily, shaking out her long strawberry blonde hair as they grabbed towels and sat back on the bleachers.

"My arms are stiff, I need to work on stretching before I do this…" Jasper huffed, rubbing one of his shoulders.

"You say that every year and yet…" Alexa teased, and he rolled his eyes.

Two more rounds went by and the coach blew the final whistle. "Right then, line up!" He hollered, and everyone grouped around him again. "If I read your name, get back on the bleachers, if I don't, tough luck and I'll see you next year!" He started reading off his cliff board and all but forty kids were left, including the old team, and twenty or so dejectedly slinking back into the locker rooms.

"Third round…" Kyle "whispered" in excitement. He loved the third round because it was an opportunity to show off his broad shoulders and obvious strength. His short, compact and thickly muscled frame was made to do the workouts Bensil came up with, and he loved the fact it came easily to him.

"You're going down this year," Tilly declared sizing up the blonde-haired boy. Kyle straightened to his full (rather unimpressive) height, and only came up to her chin, but his wicked grin gave nothing away.

"You're on. Twenty bucks I outlast you on planks." He half-shouted.

"Done. Thirty you wimp out on sit ups." She sneered good-naturedly.

"Done!" He snapped back.

"Oi! Knock it off you two!" Bensil shouted at them, and they returned excited grins to him. He sighed heavily, knowing full well the betting going on with his old team, but choosing to ignore it. It was good motivation for them after all. "Third round is workouts. Swim team is about staying in shape and being in prime condition to do any of the events, and workouts are just as important as doing laps endlessly." He stared down the newbies who seemed to be rather nervous at this idea.

Bensil started to smirk, and they _knew_ it wasn't going to be pretty.

0000000000000

"I think… Percy… might…beat us… all… this year…" Jasper noted off-handedly in-between sit-ups. Juliana was holding his feet, and rolled her eyes at her twin.

"You only say that because he hasn't broken a sweat yet." She dismissed him.

"That… is… a good… r-reason…" He huffed back, gasping for air.

"Nothing-on-me-!" Kyle practically growled, gritting his teeth in determination as he spat out each word as he jerkily sat up.

"It's not, a contest." Percy said smoothly, finishing the hundred sit-ups set and stretching his arms in preparation for the push-ups coming next, and no one missed the fact he wasn't panting, only slightly breathless.

"Freak." Tilly rolled her eyes, and Percy grinned at her. Even if he hadn't been at Camp Half blood the entire past summer after fighting his way through hell – uh, literally— the normal training at camp was ten times harder than anything Bensil could think up. He was just thankful there was no lava here.

"Not… fair…!" Jasper gasped, rolling onto his stomach with a groan in defeat as he finished.

"I am so gonna feel this tomorrow." Juliana sighed, rubbing her stomach mournfully and grimacing as Bensil started shouting for them to move into push-up position.

"This used to be easy," Alexa moaned. "This is what I get for relaxing over break." She complained.

"Quit the chatter- pushups!" Coach snapped at them, and they quickly started their set.

A hundred pushups, two hundred jumping jacks, some terrifying stretching, and six minutes of planks later, only Percy and Kyle remained, nose to the floor on their elbows supporting their body weight off the ground and trying to outlast each other, and Percy laughing as Kyle's face slowly turned purple.

"Ok you two, we get it, one of you needs to drop it so we can move on." Bensil said, but not angrily, and though they couldn't look up, they could hear the impressed and approving smile he was giving them.

"Not….before….he…pizza…" Kyle grunted incoherently.

Percy chuckled a bit breathlessly. "Fine dude… I'll buy you pizza…" He relented, dropping to the floor in defeat, and Kyle did too only a lot less gracefully. Alexa poked him with her foot just to make sure he hadn't passed out.

"Is he breathing?" Tilly asked, jabbing her finger into his back, and he grunted once, not moving.

"He'll be fine." Jasper waved him off, leaving the boy lying on the floor as they moved to the pool again.

"The idiot just wasted himself on the third round." Todd shook his head in disapproval.

They heard a weak '_I'm fine!'_ called from behind them, but they ignored it.

"Idiot." Tilly said with her signature oh-so-impressive eye roll.

"Next up is a tournament race: your times will be recorded and the top twenty spots stay." Bensil said, pulling a random kid from the group and positioning him at a lane. "From here, touch that wall, and back." He said, and let the kid get ready before blowing the whistle.

It took a long time going one by one, and some kids were obviously out of the running as soon as they started, but with a sharp glare and some whacks to the back of the head, Percy got the original team members to keep their comments to themselves. It was bad enough they had everyone watching them and were probably nervous, but they didn't need the veteran "swimming snobs" snickering at them too.

"I agree with Alexa: you're too nice." Todd smirked at Percy under his breath, and the slightly taller dark-haired boy just smiled innocently back at him.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." He shrugged them off, and they chuckled quietly.

Todd let it go, but tilted his head to the side in curiosity as he took Percy in properly for the first time one on one. "Are you going wear the surf shirt for the race? It might slow you down." He said, pointing to the dark blue swimming shirt Percy had on. It wasn't unheard of for people to wear swimming shirts, even common really, but no one really did it during races for the hydrodynamic aspects of it.

Percy hesitated for a moment, his green eyes flashing, but then slipped into an easy smile. "Na, I'll keep it on. I don't think it'll slow me down _that_ much." He smirked, and Todd smiled back, but still slightly concerned about it. It wasn't like Percy at all to be cocky, and he couldn't help but wonder if there was another reason.

Fortunately for Todd— or _unfortunately_ perhaps— Kyle-the-loud-mouth had no qualms about pointing this out.

"Since when are you wussy about taking your shirt off? You got muscle with the rest of us." He teased, and Percy brushed him off with a smile- though it didn't go unnoticed how _forced_ it was that time.

"Tell you guys later." He said quietly, and they let it drop.

"Kruger- you're up." Bensil said, and Todd went forward.

All the old team did well- Kyle and Tilly standing out above the rest. Both were on the short side, rather round and compact, thick with muscle, and it made them the best sprint swimmers: they could go very fast for short distances. Tilly, for all her strength, looked round and chubby at times, but it was all deceptive: her thick curves were pure muscle, and her long blonde hair and sky-blue eyes made a cherub-like, sweet-as-sugar face that hid a temper and aggression to match a 6'4" linebacker rather than a 5'2" teenage girl. Kyle resembled her greatly with buzzed blonde hair (too short to _really_ know the color) and tan eyes, all heavy and stout with muscle but truthfully not as much brains as Tilly. He was loud and good-natured, but extraordinarily blunt, competitive, and too thick-headed to really know when to say no. The same could be said for Tilly at times, but she was too prideful to get stuck in the stupid _anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better_ battles Kyle often ended up locked in.

"Jackson, what's with the shirt?" Bensil asked, also knowing that the veteran swimmers wouldn't normally wear such apparel for a race.

"Nothing coach," Percy said innocently, and the middle-aged man rolled his eyes. Of his old team, Percy was the only one who didn't complain or argue with his coaching techniques, like a right little soldier at times, so he let the peculiar things that often happened around the boy slide more easily than he did with his other team members. The fact he'd disappeared mid-season last year was odd, yes, but Ms. Jackson had explained it was family trouble to the school, and the green-eyed boy was nothing if not caring, so Bensil really couldn't hold it against the kid for deserting them—he could completely understand why he left.

The coach shook off the archived thoughts and blew the whistle.

Percy was proud when he beat his old record by four whole seconds, and climbed out of the pool to hear not only his team, but Bensil cheering approvingly at him.

"That's quite the improvement!" Bensil nodded with an excited smile. "You've been working on speed over break?" He asked, and Percy shrugged.

"I spent some time with my dad who's a pretty big swimmer himself. He gave me a few pointers I guess," He brushed it off, remembering the bits of the summer he spent in Poseidon's palace.

After Tartarus he, Annabeth, and Nico had been pretty messed up in the head and… _stressed_ to say the least, more so than the others of The Seven and not in a good way, and seeming unable to relax again. Once all the war and fighting was over and the demigods and gods (both Greek and Roman) began to rebuild and sort out a plan of action for the future, it became apparent the three demigods who'd been to Tartarus and lived (the first demigods to ever do such a thing, I might add) needed help.

A lot of help.

The gods this time—ignoring Zeus's pride, as was pretty much the new unspoken rule now adays—all acknowledged they were in the demigods' debt for saving the world, stopping their children from killing each other, and fixing their extreme multi-personality disorder , and agreed to lend a hand. Percy went to Poseidon's palace, Annabeth spent some time up on Olympus with her mother, and Hades had let Nico set up shop in Elysium for a few weeks, and all three of them got weekly visits from Apollo and Dionysus to help with the stress, along with several other gods who just showed up to 'help' in their own ways—closely watched by their respective parents of course, who would know what was 'relaxing' and what was not. For example, Aphrodite trying to 'fix' Annabeth's love life and getting kicked off Olympus by Athena, and Ares trying to 'fix' Percy's fighting flaws and getting kicked out of the sea by Poseidon.

They came together again with the rest of The Seven in mid July well-rested and far better off than they'd ever been before. Nico had a great time in Elysium (which was far over-due for the poor kid) and Annabeth had designed Olympus a dozen times over with her mother, not to mention having read some ancient "long-lost" books only Athena could get her hands on. Percy didn't really get it or remember what they were called, but the academic stimulation obviously made his girlfriend much happier, so he went with it.

He himself had finally gotten along with Triton, and spent a majority of the time sparring and learning new techniques from his half brother, and even his father who stopped by sometimes to help out. Lady Amphrite was thankfully neutral to his presence and neither welcomed nor was overly cold towards him (something about Percy being responsible for making Poseidon an Olympus hero might've helped with softening her too). Simply being at the bottom of the ocean in the ruins of the old palace as it slowly got rebuilt after Oceanus destroyed it was relaxing, especially the day trips all around the seven seas to really get to know his father's domain. It was his home field, and with no impending _anything_ to freak about, it was more than welcome to spend that time there. He learned a lot, he felt better, he had a new half brother to be on good terms with on top of being able to see Tyson every day.

Athena would never "lower herself" to helping design Poseidon's ruined palace as it got rebuilt, but Annabeth wasn't so rejecting of that idea, and Poseidon himself was rather shocked and intrigued when Percy suggested it. They hadn't come to any agreement about it yet, but Poseidon had asked many questions that Percy dutifully relayed to Annabeth through IMs, and the daughter of Athena had responded just as eagerly as she had when designing Olympus. Poseidon quite liked her ideas, and even once admitted he was rubbish as making designs that could withstand ocean currents for more than a few centuries or so.

Athena may have hated him, but at least his dad seemed to be on better terms with his girlfriend than her mother was with him.

So, his cover story with spending time with his dad's family wasn't so wrong just… really, really, really, _really, _edited.

He was brought back to reality when Bensil finished up the races and started calling off the top twenty spots. The old team, plus Percy's picks, made it and the twenty so left over kids made a hasty exit.

"Right then: Kruger! Dent! Jackson! Roll up the lanes, and the rest of you line up at the water's edge!" They did just that and Bensil stood at one end and instructed them to jump in, which they did. Todd caught the old team's eyes and nodded to Percy, and they all understood: whoever beat Percy won. Because Percy—as aforementioned—had incredible endurance, not to mention the fact he was in the water which just refilled his energy levels as they were depleted. Salt water or no- this was _his_ domain and he could never tire of it no matter how hard he tried.

"Swim until you can't anymore. That's pretty much it…" Bensil shrugged and blew the whistle. They were swimming the short way back and forth across the pool so they could all go at the same time and in this test it didn't really matter how big their swimming area was, just so long as they kept swimming.

They hadn't gone a total of two hundred meters yet when four kids dropped out. Three hundred more and three more stopped. One hundred more and two more quit, then a few more laps and the last guy climbed out. That left the seven original team members and three new guys, who seemed very relieved.

Bensil blew the whistle and the three new guys, Tilly, Juliana, and Jasper got out but the last four remained. Bensil just rolled his eyes, knowing full well what was going on.

"You guys aren't going to win!" The coach shouted at them through the water, but Kyle waved him off without surfacing.

"What are they doing?" One of the new guys asked in confusion.

"Trying to beat Percy in endurance," Tilly explained, out of breath like the rest of them from their marathon and pointing to Percy and he swam through the water with wide, powerful strokes that didn't seem to be slowing down.

Kyle refused to give up, thick headedly determined as he was, but his form was in shambles now, struggling to keep up. He was a fast, short-distance swimmer, and completely not built for endurance like Percy. Alexa and Todd were struggling as well, though faring far better than Kyle they weren't at all keeping up with Percy's consistent pace.

"No one beats Percy in endurance." Jasper explained to the new guy sitting beside him at the pool's edge.

"Which means were going to be here for another half hour for nothing." Bensil sighed, taking a seat on the bleachers to watch them, not even bothering to time them or mark how far they'd traveled anymore.

"They can keep going for another thirty minutes?!" One new guy said in an alarmed voice.

"Kyle can't, but he'll keep trying anyway until he just collapses." Tilly said matter-of-factly.

"Alexa and Todd will come to their senses when little black spots start appearing in their goggles, and they get really dizzy, but so far as we know Percy could keep going forever." Juliana reasoned casually.

One new guy said "This can't be healthy," the same moment another one said "You guys are masochistic." And everyone laughed though didn't deny it.

Sure enough, it played out just like Juliana had called it, with Alexa giving up first, followed quickly by Todd who watched Kyle struggle on for another ten minutes or so before finishing a lap and gripping the side of the pool looking rather pale.

"Damn you!" He howled completely out of breath and shaking slightly. Percy finished his lap and gripped the wall beside him, laughing. Again, he was a bit out of breath, but only like he'd just did two or three laps, not the countless he'd just done for the past forty minutes.

"Yes, yes, you all did wonderfully though it's obvious you haven't been keeping up on things over break, with the exception of Percy with his speed jump." Bensil said, calling their attention to him. "And still, you're a few points behind Tilly, Kyle, and Todd. You've tied with Alexa though, and I think both of you can do much better this year if you work at it." Alexa and Percy shared a knowing smile, knowing full well they were going to be running drills from here until next summer until Bensil thought they'd 'improved' enough.

"Congratulations to the new guys: Peter, Steve, and Tom." Bensil said, nodding to the kids respectively. Peter and Jared were the guys Percy picked while Steve looked oddly like the 6'4" linebacker he'd just mentally compared Tilly to. He didn't _look_ like a swimmer at all, and Percy vaguely wondered how he could even float. However, he had an air about him that was rather pleasant, reminding Percy oddly of a water nymph except he was the exact opposite of what he pictured as a water nymph to be.

Strange.

"Percy," He grinned to them, shaking all of their hands happily.

"Dude, how do you even have any energy left?" Jared said in amazement at Percy's enthusiasm. Percy, who still hadn't got out of the pool yet, knew he'd be hyperactive until he left the safety of the water, and for now just grinned knowingly at him.

"I'll be sore tomorrow, I guarantee it." He chuckled.

"But not as bad as Kyle." Tilly said in amusement watching Kyle struggle in vain to lift himself out of the pool when his arms where shaking so badly his teeth clacked together as he supported himself.

"I'm Alexa, that idiot's Kyle, you met Percy, and there's Todd, Tilly, and the twins, Juliana and Jasper." Alexa briefly introduced, and everyone nodded to the new guys in turn.

"Steve Marshall." The water nymph linebacker nodded to them, his face impassive and tone blank, saved only by his simple smile.

"Peter Sprout." The kid with shaggy sandy hair nodded with a nervous grin to them.

"Tommy O'Malley." The last kid grinned cheerily, red hair and barrage of vibrant freckles coating his skin only adding to his energetic persona.

"Please ta meet ch'ya." Tilly nodded to them all. "However, I'd've appreciated more girls making it this year, _Bensil."_ She accused casually, and the coach simply grunted but didn't acknowledge her.

"Practices are mandatory Mondays and Wednesdays, but you'll find most of these freaks are here every day anyway." Bensil continued to inform the newbies and his old team. "We typically have meets about three times a month, mostly on weeknights, but regional's and state competitions are on weekends, I'll inform you of the dates as they're scheduled."

**(A/N I don't know when swimming season actually is, so just roll with it)**

"We focus on improving ourselves to be well-rounded competitors," He continued, "So we do drills in everything: freestyle, back stroke, breast stroke, butterfly, and then we do group workouts for relay. I expect that what you fall short in you work extra hard to improve at. Some of the competitions we go to do a random draw, meaning you're only allowed a certain number of team members to compete in all the races, and I want to be able to pick from the cream of the crop, got it? There will be no '_oh, I can't pick this person because they're not good at this certain race, blah, blah, blah'!_ I want you all eligible to race for _everything_, got it?"

There were chorused 'yes sirs!' and general agreement, and he nodded to them in acknowledgement.

"I design the workouts out of water for the Mondays and Wednesdays, and they typically only last an hour or so, though it is suggested you repeat them even on your off days as you see fit. The weight room is open to us from 3 to 3:45 everyday unless otherwise specified and that's also recommended you do at your own discretion. And when I say that, I mean as much as you can—every day if humanly possible."

"You really are masochists." Peter mumbled, and the veteran members bit back laughs.

"There's a reason we've got one of the best teams in state." Kyle boasted proudly.

"I'm always in my office for questions, but I'm also the AP Statistics teacher so I usually have three million papers and projects to be grading and I like this to be a democracy anyway when possible… plus I get sick of seeing your pesky faces all the damn time, so this year's team captain will be in charge and running pretty much all practices as per my instructions."

"Aw, love you too coach." Juliana rolled her eyes.

"You will listen to the captain when they tell you to do something," Bensil continued gruffly as if he hadn't heard her, "But swimming is a personal sport about besting your own times and working on your own personal goals, which I expect each and every one of you to do beyond you best. Any short-cut taking or slacking off and I'm sure there are two dozen kids roaming the halls out there all willing and eager to take your place in a second, got it?"

There were ten quick and resolute nods to that.

"Good. Now, for team captain, since Donavan graduated last year… Kruger, you up for it?"

Todd looked shocked but got over it and nodded eagerly. Everyone smiled, somehow already knowing he was going to be captain. Tilly and Kyle were too abrasive and vain to lead a team even though as seniors they traditionally would've been top picks, the three new guys were out of the question as they were currently clueless. The twins, Jasper and Juliana, as sophomores, were still pretty new at it not to mention they often had family things to do, especially on weekends and too often couldn't come to the weekend meets. Of the remaining three Juniors, Todd and Alexa had better all around race times than Percy, and Alexa was also an honor roll, National Honor Society, AP class student with the ridiculous academics that meant nights before tests she would undoubtedly be studying instead of swimming. Todd was smart too, but he could easily balance his less-rigorous course work with many hours of swimming a day, not to mention he was only too eager to do just that.

Besides, Percy had disappeared with no warning last year, and as a team captain that just couldn't happen—and as a leader in many different aspects of his life, Percy understood this without question, and probably would not have accepted even if Bensil _had_ picked him for captain. His demigod life didn't leave much in the name of stability, times of peace or not, and he wouldn't do that to his team.

Because after all, demigods still didn't live very long after high school, wars or no wars, and just because he'd survived so far against all odds didn't mean tomorrow couldn't bring an unexpected trip to Elysium the hard way. He _had_ pissed off a lot of gods over the years after all.

"Congrats dude, now you get to keep Tilly and Kyle from killing each other all year." Jasper said happily, clapping Todd on the shoulder—who suddenly looked rather tired at facing that monumental task.

"Excellent. Now, go home and rest, I'll see you here Wednesday for the official start of practice, got it?" Bensil said, standing and nodding them a good night as he retreated to his office and the new team got out of the pool.

Immediately, Percy felt his energy drain away as got out of the water, but it wasn't too bad. An early nights rest and he'd be good as new tomorrow, probably better if he got to school early to do a few laps before classes started…

His thoughts were broken as Todd spoke beside him.

"You gonna explain the swimming shirt thing, man?" He asked and everyone else's conversations quieted down and their attention drawn to the strange occurrence, curious to the answer as well.

Percy's eyes flashed again, the memory of what lay beneath the shirt sharp as if it were physically stabbing him, but he shook it off quickly, trying to breath deep and keep his composure. Annabeth had explained what PTSD was, and he still didn't know if that was really what he had, but every time he thought about Tartarus… he felt unnaturally cold and jumpy. Not to mention the nightmares…

He forced himself to smile casually at Todd.

"I sorta had an accident while camping with my girlfriend and cousin." He gave the prepared lie.

"Oh, right, you're mythical girlfriend." Kyle rolled his eyes. True, none of them had ever met Annabeth, and they sort of assumed his no dating policy was more out of a sincere kindness beyond high school flings, but he never understood why they'd think he'd _lie_ about having a girlfriend at all. Sure, they didn't believe him, but going so far as to say she didn't exist was weird, even for them. Still, he let it go, too far used to it now to care much.

"_Yes _actually…my **girlfriend, **my cousin, and I went caving in Greece and got scraped up pretty bad." He insisted.

"Caving? You spelunk? And who the hell decided to call it _spelunking_ anyway?" Tilly blurted out randomly.

"We were trying new things," Percy brushed off her doubts easily. "And now I can safely tell you we won't be trying new things for quite some time," He huffed.

"Really? Was it that bad?" Todd wondered aloud.

"Are you gonna get a scar out of it though?" Kyle persisted.

Percy grimaced involuntarily.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I will." He sighed, trying to hide the horror he felt rising in his throat.

"Don't sound so glum dude, chicks dig scars." Jasper clapped him on the back comfortingly.

"But I-"

"Yeah, we know, you _already have a girlfriend._ Whatever you say Jackson." Juliana rolled her eyes. "Now seriously, dump the shirt and let us see, it can't be _that_ bad!" She tugged at the hem of the offending garment and he gave a resigned sighed, gritting his teeth but relenting. He was on the swimming team for crying out loud, the surf shirt was a good delay tactic, but it was never going to last forever. He might as well get it over with and get used to showing off his… battle scars. (Thought with an inner grimace).

He stripped the shirt and tried hard not to see the horrified looks his teammates were now giving him.

"…_dude." _Todd gaped.

Cave accident was right, only it wasn't so much an accident but a wicked-ass monster at the bottom of the endless pit of hell. It was so much better than it'd been over the summer, healed nicely thanks to Apollo's care and Hades' knowledge of reversing cursed wounds, but the three clawed marks turned scars going from his left shoulder all the way down and past his right hip were still vivid red. To him, when he saw it, he could only feel the pain and the panic, fighting his way in pitch blackness against a monster he could not see, feeling Annabeth beside him and clinging to the sound of her heavy breathing as they tried helplessly to defeat an unseen enemy that could be anywhere and everywhere in the darkness…

He shook it off quickly before he could start to panic again.

Whatever that monster was— that he still had no name for— it had definitely left its mark, and the pain was easily double the weight of the world and triple Kronos' scythe combined. Broken bones, crushed spirits, cuts and stab wounds: they were all nothing, not even a grain of sand or a blip on the radar compared to the unholy pain the scars had given him. He could never describe it, and truthfully he never wanted to even try to, the only solace being that when he looked into Annabeth's gray eyes, he could see understanding.

Because only three people in the world knew the terrible pain, and they happened to be the only three people to ever fight their way out of Tartarus.

He had the scars on his chest, and Annabeth had a matching set down her back, straight along her spine. They were originally so deep it was a miracle she could ever keep on fighting and that it hadn't torn her spine out, but Apollo later explained that it _should_ have killed her, and his too, except that they were already dead.

They were in Tartarus, when they died—and how many times did they die fighting the hopeless fight down there? Far too many to remember—their souls never left them, because they would only end up right back in the bottomless pit of hell. It was the curse of Tartarus: to know death a thousand times over in terrible, gruesome ways, and for it to never stop…

Except that it _did_ stop. The doors opened in the House of Hades, and Annabeth and Percy had miraculously fought their way close enough to it to be able to see Leo's fiery light as the six remaining demigods in the surface world fought through the armies of monsters and worked their way towards it.

Leo managed to set half of Tartarus on fire (though truthfully, the home of eternal darkness was possible only scarier lit up) and it gave them a path to follow as it engulfed them but never hurt them, burning away the monsters—who'd rematerialize twenty feet away, but it was far enough away to give them a path to get out.

They left Tartarus to join the final battle against Gaea and get the doors closed again, but that fight was lifetimes easier than the one they'd just been raised from.

Their relief was only short lived when the horrible truth was revealed: the doors could only be closed from both sides simultaneously.

Someone had to stay behind.

Percy was ashamed to say that his hero side failed him right then. When The Seven realized what had to be done, both Percy and Annabeth wept—from exhaustion, pain, horror, trauma, they didn't know or care right then, but they were both terrified. They were just freed, they didn't know if they had the strength to go back so soon…

And then Nico saved them all by cuing Leo, who blocked them all in with a ring of fire (also sealing out the enclosing monsters) and then ran straight into the depths of Tartarus.

The battle over, the doors closed, and Nico locked away where Annabeth and Percy had just been rescued from, they had no choice but to return to Camp Half Blood as fast as they could and stop the Greek/Roman battle about to ensue.

Whether it was the state Percy and Annabeth were in, the return of the Athena Pantheons, the retelling of Nico's sacrifice to save them all (combined with the fact they all _knew_ Nico in some way) whatever it was, it worked in getting the Greek/Roman situation defused enough to explain the whole story and work out an agreement. And since, things had been going well, long road to peace between the warring factions though it was.

Everything was happy, or at least hopeful, with only the bittersweet storm cloud of Nico's sacrifice looming over them all to dampen it.

But by gods, it was a big storm cloud. Those first two weeks were the worst guilt Percy had ever known… but Annabeth had also explained it could've been survivors guilt combined with PTSD combined with all the other over-the-edge crazy both he and her had suffered.

That was, until Nico came back.

It was July first and Leo was the one to find him, dragging himself out of the forest bordering the Camp boundaries and in worse shape than anyone still living could acclaim to. He was unconscious for three days in the infirmary and in that time, the only clue they got as to what had happened was a short message from Lord Hades:

"_The Underworld is in ruins. Nico has escaped Tartarus." _

No one knew what it meant, and no one knows now. Even after Nico woke and calmed down some, every time someone asked how he escaped, he simply turned a sick pale-gray color and started shaking uncontrollably, unable to make eye contact.

And it was no trick, Nico had been to Tartarus and somehow back again on his own, because he had the scar to prove it.

It still killed Percy inside when he looked at his little cousin's face, the corner of one dark eye marred by the blood red line running down the side of his tiny, pale face.

The three of them had come up with the caving accident together to tell anyone who questioned too closely about the scars; mainly for Nico's benefit, who tended to get those questions a lot now.

"Dude…" Kyle echoed Todd's statement.

"Oh my god, did it hurt?" Tilly fretted. "What!?" She demanded as the rest of the team gave her incredulous looks.

"No _duh_ it hurt! How the hell did you manage that one?" Alexa worried to Percy.

"…uh, not sure… it was dark and we fell, and when it was over we were all pretty banged up. My cousin got it the worst though…" Percy sighed, trying not to flinch as he pictured Nico's face.

"_Damn…_ how long ago was this? It looks pretty fresh still… and you were in the pool! Didn't the chlorine hurt?" Jasper marveled.

"No, no, the water feels pretty good actually, and it happened… when? Early June I guess. Doctor says it looks worse than it is at this point. Doesn't hurt _that_ badly anymore."

_Except when a monster's around._ Percy added mentally to himself. It was a handy little trick the scars had—pretty much their _only_ redeeming quality. They started to ache, even flare in sharp pain, when a monster was close by. It was convenient, sort of—at least now he could prepare a decent excuse to go off and fight a monster rather than just disappear and leave people hanging.

"Early June!? Dude, they must've been some impressive cuts if they still look this way after all that time…" Kyle pondered.

_And will look this way for a lot longer._ Percy thought bitterly, remembering Apollo explaining that cursed scars took years and years to heal where normal cuts could be healed by ambrosia and nectar in seconds, or weeks/months to a normal mortal.

"Don't stare, it's rude!" Juliana cuffed both her twin and Kyle over the heads and walked forward to loop her arm comfortingly in Percy's (with a vaguely condescending air). "Now, now, don't worry 'bout them, you'll have all the girls with those to impress," She nodded in determination.

"But I have-"

"Riiiiiight, you have 'Annabeth'. Whatever floats your boat." She cut him off with a devilish grin.

Percy frowned. "I swear, one of these days you're going to regret not believing me." He deadpanned.

"Of course! Just about when pigs fly too I gather?" She giggled.

Percy just rolled his eyes as he rolled up his shirt and moved to the locker rooms.

"So, what do you think about this whole Delphi school thing?" Todd asked as the boys and girls separated and they began to get changed.

"What do you mean, 'what I think'?" Percy hedged, knowing if he talked too much about it he'd start to slip. He wasn't the greatest liar in the world, and he'd miraculously managed to sell the lie about his scars… but the longer he went on the less likely they'd buy it.

He had a cursory story Annabeth had come up with, but if they started asking questions…

"What do you think as in, what do you think its gonna be like with _two_ student bodies in one school, much less half of them being special needs kids." Todd clarified.

"Yeah! Like, I'm thinking they're gonna have to do something to everyone's schedules once all those kids show up, or do you think its gonna be like they just add on other classes?" Kyle chimed in.

"No, well… ok, first off, it's not 'special needs' kids like you're imagining, that's for sure," Percy sighed, "Dr. West meant 'special needs' as in kids with ADHD and Dyslexia."

"Like you?" Kyle recalled.

"Woah, you do? Harsh man. I've got Dyslexia too. Having ADHD on top of that would suck majorly." Steve nodded to Percy sympathetically, who just grinned good-naturedly back at him.

"Wait, hold up! How do you know what disabilities the Delphi kids have?" Todd cut them off, and Percy tried to avoid his eyes and he packed his backpack together.

"Well… you know… ADHD Dyslexic kids aren't exactly _common_, ya know? I've known a lot of the Delphi kids since sixth grade; we all go to the same summer camp every year and stuff."

"Really!?" Kyle and Todd chorused in surprise.

"A summer camp for ADHD Dyslexic kids? I'm sure the camp counselors just _love_ that job!" Peter laughed.

"Well, since you're speaking to one, I actually _do _love it." Percy grinned right back at him and they all burst out laughing while Peter blushed heavily.

"I didn't know that about you," Todd marveled, accompanying Percy as the two made their way from the locker rooms.

Percy could only shrug noncommittally at that statement. He had a terrible feeling Todd was going to be thinking that a lot this year…

"So, since you actually know the answer, what _do_ you think having them here will be like?" He questioned.

At that, Percy earnestly smiled. "I think it'll be great. So far as I know, there are only forty or so of them actually going to start here in October, so as far as crowding goes, it shouldn't be a problem. But other than that, I'm excited! They're my friends in one way or another, and having them around will be awesome. Sure, I see them on weekends sometimes and every summer, but its different, ya know?"

"Sure," Todd agreed easily, smiling at Percy's enthusiasm. "I'm excited to meet them too then. You're a pretty good judge of character, and if you say they're decent, then I'm game." He decided.

Percy mentally flashed to Clarisse and her brothers about to attend, but decided to simply smile and nod at that sentiment.

Todd would find that out for himself in October.


	5. Queen of Blunt

**Hello Internet. **

**So, if you couldn't already tell by my depiction of Nico's awesomeness in the last chapter (or any of my other PJ stories) I'm a bit of a Nico fan. And a Leo fan, but I have another story devoted to Leo's awesomeness, though he WILL play a nicely important little role in this story too. **

**The point is, I love Nico, and since I've already set up room for several little stories to play out simultaneously in this one story, I've decided to give Nico his own storyline. Two actually, but the seconds will come later down this proverbial road.**

**Yes, this chapter is a shameless tribute to how wonderful Nico is. For those of you that like that, enjoy! For those of you that don't—I have rabid mice that are only too eager to hear your opinions on it. **

**Enjoy!**

**0000000000000 **

Percy and Paul were at school, everything that had to be done around the apartment was completed, one of Sally's favorite meals— lasagna—was reheating in the oven for lunch, and she was glaring at her computer screen on the living room couch, silently cursing her own brain for her writers block.

It was one of those days where she didn't have to work at the candy store, thankfully being able to cut down to leaving that job as part-time rather than double or triple shifts as she once had, but unfortunately the sudden decrease in daily activity wasn't good for the creative bone.

She was fascinated with people: she loved to sit and talk with the customers who came into the store, her coworkers and people she saw on the street. Many of her characters in her writings were inspired by strangers she'd had a chance encounter with, and spending three days a week at home rather than eighteen hours a day _every_ day out in the world was rather strange, and though it'd been over two years—approaching three at this point—since she met Paul, Sally still didn't know how to handle it. She had spent the first thirteen years of Percy's life living one way, and now it was time for another.

Not that she minded having a stable man who loved and supported her, and a son close by and in no danger of imminent death, and soon-to-be dozens of surrogate children that she would undoubtedly call her own whether they liked it or not. It was like getting a fairy tale ending when you long ago accepted there was no such thing: it was magical.

But perpetual, content happiness did not make for passionate writing.

Passion came from good things, yes, but it also came from the bad. It seemed like her mind had always been brimming with ideas and thoughts when she had no time to write any of it down, and now that she had time, the inspiration was slowing.

"Gods help me," She muttered to herself. "I sound ungrateful." She chuckled shaking off her thoughts and moving to check on her lunch.

She had only just taken it out to let it cool when there came a gentle knock on the front door. Sally glanced at the clock, but it was only eleven thirty in the morning, and the mailman had been there promptly at nine as always.

Not that she was afraid, but she _did_ live in New York, and _had_ grown up seeing monsters everywhere. She was _cautious_ let's say, at the very least when Percy wasn't home.

She opened the door and her worries melted away, replaced by surprise and confusion.

"Ms. Jackson, I think?" asked the woman before her airily. Sally didn't need clear sight to see she was a goddess: she had flowing, thick black, gently curled hair pinned back with delicate white and pastel yellow flowers, a gracefully flowing white summer dress hanging off her shoulders and clutching her perfect frame. She wore no shoes, but colorfully glinting golden bangles on her wrists, and an equally bright and strangely glowing circlet tiara placed on her head and coming to a point on her forehead. Her eyes glinted a range of natural, earthy colors, her pale skin blushed plum rose red across her cheeks and contrasting with cherry blossom pink lips.

Most striking was the intense smell of spring. It was like every flower Sally had every smelt, the fresh and damp scent of the forest after a thunderstorm, freshly cut grass and wet fur, upturned earth and honeysuckle.

"Queen Persephone," Sally breathed in shock.

The Queen of the Underworld smiled warmly. "You're observant. That son of yours is less so; I would blame his father for that."

Sally blinked again before collecting herself. "Oh! Where are my manners? Would you, uh, like to come in? I'm afraid Percy isn't here…"

The goddess smiled again and stepped inside. "I've actually come to see you, my dear." She said breezily, glancing about the apartment absently. "I am aware that you are a figure of authority in my step-son's life, are you not?" She asked, turning back to Sally expectantly.

"Um… Nico? Yes, he's like a son to me, though I haven't seen him around here since school started…. Speaking of which… ah, isn't it September?" Sally asked hesitantly, aware that the kidnapped goddess was supposed to be trapped in the underworld for fall and winter.

Persephone just smiled happily. "My husband wishes me to focus more on our son and bade me leave from the Underworld should that be necessary. I wished to talk to you, so he was willing to grant my pardon."

Sally smiled, happy to hear that Nico's "parents" were actually acting as real guardians to the young hero, if not a little shocked at it too. She'd heard that the gods were getting more and more involved in their children's lives, especially with the changes about to take place in a couple months, but she hadn't thought it would be Hades and Persephone taking on the roles of a domestic couple for their astray son.

Come to think of it, Nico wasn't even comfortable with Sally's hospitality or Percy's friendliness despite the fact they were as close as could be, much less his own father and step-mother (to which Sally had yet to hear a good word from Nico about) which would no doubt scare the living daylights out of him.

(Then again, she probably shouldn't expect anything else from the king and queen of the underworld.)

The Queen calling the young demigod "our son" seemed oddly out of place on a goddess's lips. That just wasn't how the gods work.

"You are concerned." Persephone said. Not asking.

Sally blushed as she realized the goddess was probably more than capable of hearing her thoughts. She _was_ a goddess after all.

"I'm sorry, it's just…. Nico doesn't handle affection well, he hardly tolerates his cousins' love and their relationship isn't what one would call healthy by any means… I guess I was simply caught off guard, was all."

The Queen sighed heavily. "And _that _is precisely the reason I thought this trip necessary. I wished to… _consult_ about Nico. You are not his mother, and nor am I, but he sees you as his maternal figure and not me. I wondered what was so special about you that you've garnered the gods' and my son's approval." She frowned lightly, and Sally blinked a little at the blunt way she put it.

Then, yet again, she _was_ a goddess. Sally didn't think being rude was even in her realm of possibility.

"Um…" She floundered for a moment. "Would you like to sit, and… discuss it, I guess?" Persephone nodded once and moved to take the seat Sally had previously occupied, so Sally sat beside her on the couch. "Would you like, um… tea or something?" She offered, not sure if goddesses even did tea, or they drank ambrosia all the time, or…?

"That would be lovely, wouldn't it?" Persephone agreed, waving her hand to the side, and Sally heard things move around in the kitchen, hearing the kettle clank as it was set against the stove and the tell-tale _whoosh_ of the gas stove lighting up.

Oh, ok then.

"What… what exactly is it you wish to know?" Sally asked cautiously.

Persephone sighed again, leaning back into the couch and crossing her arms petulantly, and Sally was struck with how _teenager-ish_ she looked doing that, like she was just another teen coming to an older woman for advice… and yet Sally was well aware the youthful looking woman sitting beside her was a few millennia older than her, not to mention the fact she lived in Hell. For half the year at least.

"My husband and I wish to see him more, but he is hardly easy to track down, even for the gods." Persephone complained, and Sally made a mental note to ask Nico how he did that seemingly impossible task. "But the worrying bit is that Nico is growing older and his powers are starting to emerge." She continued on.

"He has always had some rather remarkable powers." Sally cautiously pointed out.

"Oh, child's tricks." Persephone waved her off distractedly. "The same as that son of yours will start to develop his true powers in time; though, the whole blowing up Typhoon's prison was probably the real start come to think of it…. Anyway, the point is, children of the Big Three were banned for good reason you see: they develop far past the normal realms of demigod powers. But still, even that is not my concern." She sighed.

Meanwhile, Sally was trying very hard not to openly gape or start to outwardly freak out about this new information. If the goddess sensed her shock and distress, she said nothing.

"My concern is that Nico's powers are developing and he is more often than not away from the palace and out of our control. It is worrying, to say the least, that he will end up like the rest."

"The rest?" Sally said sharply, suddenly concerned for Nico in the way his step-mother was talking about him… like, he only had a certain amount of time left.

Persephone raised one eyebrow. "You are aware of the last child of Hades, yes?"

Sally blinked for a moment before the old war films of WWII started playing in her mind's eye.

"Nico is nothing like that man." She said immediately.

"No, I agree he is very different, but the result will be the same if Hades cannot gain control over his son."

Sally, for her eternal understanding and patience, could not comprehend what the goddess of spring was saying.

"You are confused." Persephone frowned at her. Sally only nodded once a bit guilty.

"Oh, how to explain it…" The goddess mused thoughtfully for a moment. "I suppose… it could be explained as if all life was fueled by a type of energy. Granted, it is far more complicated, but for now it shall do. Now, one's existence is fueled by an energy of a sort, but there are many, _many_ different types of energy: the type that breathes light into mortals, into plant life, into animals, into monsters, even into the gods and nymphs and satyrs. There is a type of energy that exists, that stems from death."

"Life from death…" Sally breathed, trying to imagine it.

"In itself a contradiction." Persephone agreed as if Sally's amazement was a conclusion. "The moment life and death are fused, they are constantly trying to tear each other apart, trying to separate and restore balance by putting death on the flipside of life. It is this perpetual struggle that torments children of the underworld from the moment they are conceived."

Sally couldn't help the panicked gasp that slipped through her lips. Poor Nico…

"Hades may control all of death and claim it as his domain, but his life force comes from the same type of energy that fuels all immortal gods. His children are the only beings in existence that suffer this, so it is not surprising they are rare and few, even among the children of the Big Three, which are rare to begin with even without the oath." The goddess explained in a rather business-like tone. "Of course, most of my husband's illegitimate children are born dead to begin with, never even making it to birth."

Sally put a hand over her mouth and fought the horrified tears threatening to spill over.

"And that is why I am here." Persephone declared, not seeming to notice Sally's horror. "Nico will develop his powers as he grows, but his powers are rooted in death, and conflict greatly with his living soul. The effort of containing such powers will drive him mad, just as it has for every child of the underworld before him. Although, come to think of it, his experience in Tartarus may have done more than enough to set him off prematurely. I wasn't there when he escaped, but I saw the aftermath of the Underworld…." She trailed off, eyes going blank for a moment. She snapped out of it sharply, "Well, let us just say I also wish to help Nico contain his sanity before his powers develop too much farther than they already have."

The goddess of spring was absentmindedly twirling a lock of her hair and staring off to space as she said that, and glanced over at Sally. She did a double-take and sat up a bit straighter.

"Oh my dear!" She cooed in concern. "Have I said something wrong?" She said, a look of concentration coming across her face as if trying to remember her little speech and at what point she said something to upset the mortal woman.

Sally got the distinct impression Persephone was more disconnected from human emotions than any other god or goddess she'd met thus far, and yet still cared about them. She only realized something was off when Sally fought obvious tears, but not what she said that was so horrible. Sally didn't need her to go any farther to know why she was here: she cared greatly about Nico but probably went about trying to help him in the worst way possible.

"No, no…" Sally waved her off, pulling herself together and trying to focus her thoughts. "I just… I worry for Nico, with this new information, and the idea of infants… it is not a pleasant idea." She explained calmly, and the goddess got a slightly confused look on her face, as if trying to figure out how that idea was unpleasant. She eventually gave up and just shrugged it off.

"But will you help me?" The goddess demanded, and Sally blinked at her.

"Oh, ah- of course, but…to do what exactly?" Sally said nervously. She knew well enough from Percy that doing favors for gods wasn't always the smartest idea. Not that a god would employ a _mortal_ to help them… would they?

"I am aware of the large amount of demigods to attend the local school here, and also that Artemis bade her Lieutenant and daughter of Zeus to attend in the name of finding new recruits for her hunt." She said eagerly as Sally straightened up a little in pleasant surprise at that. "Two children of the Big Three in one place? Hades wishes to send his son there as well, perhaps the older two may help him as his powers enhance. Also, he does not like being left out and wishes his son to be accepted in the above world as he was not. He believes this will be good for him… and it will quell our arguments some." She explained.

Sally was shocked, and not just a little concerned about their motivations, but abruptly excited about having not only Nico, but Thalia also nearby. They truly were Percy's closest family besides her and Paul, and on top of his camp friends living close by… she was excited _for_ Percy.

"That's wonderful!" She said honestly, and Persephone beamed.

"Excellent! Now, ah… the problem thus far is that we cannot actually _find_ Nico to tell him this." She admitted, and Sally had to fight off the urge to face palm. Of _course_ Nico wouldn't be up for going to school, and of _course_ his parents were deciding this without his consent—or even _telling _him. Again, her theory of Persephone being a caring, but **clueless** parent resurfaced.

Sally let out a careful sigh. "Did you, um… _talk_ to Nico about enrolling him in school?" She asked cautiously.

Persephone blinked once.

"No. Why?" She tilted her head to the side in innocent confusion. Sally bit her lip to keep from smiling in sad amusement.

"Perhaps… perhaps _talking_ to him and taking his view on things is an important first step in…. in gaining his trust. Speak with him, don't _command_ him… I think it would go over better for both of you." She reasoned calmly, praying—scratch that, simply _hoping_ she would understand. She didn't want to be praying with a goddess in the room.

Said goddess looked confused for a moment, before realization dawned in her eyes. "Oh, like father like son, right?" She seemed to nod to herself, and Sally remained silent, really having no clue what she was talking about.

"All I'm suggesting is that you… _ask_, rather than _inform_ Nico of decisions pertaining to his life." Sally said, and Persephone frowned in frustration, but nodded off-handedly.

"I shall try I suppose… but that does not solve our dilemma at the moment. We still wish to put Nico in that school, and yet he has vanished. Already, his powers grow in that he can evade even his father's searching, but time draws short and we wish him to comply." She said plainly, and Sally nodded sympathetically, trying to think of a way to contact the elusive boy. Though, if the lord of the Underworld could not find him, what hopes did she have?

"Perhaps he would allow Percy to contact him?" Sally suggested, and Persephone seemed cheered by that idea.

"Yes, he does favor you son's company over most; that should work if they have a way of contacting." She agreed.

"Will he stay with the other demigods?" Sally asked, but the goddess shook her head. "Oh, where then?"

"Here of course," She said airily, and Sally blinked a little, yet again understanding Nico's problems with his step-mother. "With permission, Hades will make the arrangements you need for his son, but that is a discussion for another time."

"Another time?" Sally said in alarm.

"Yes, yes, in a moment we shall get to that, but for now I simply wished to inform you of our troubles with Nico. Presently, you have another visitor." She said evenly, leaning forward and taking a cup of tea that had somehow arrived from the kitchen without Sally noticing—though she was _certain_ it hadn't been there three seconds ago.

"Ah, another…?" She stuttered, and then, for the second time that day there came a knock on the door.


	6. Moms' Book Club

Percy waved to the doorman of his apartment building with a smile as he jogged up the front steps of the Archstone apartment building.

Matt, the doorman, smiled warmly back. Percy kinda wished he'd say 'hi' because he found the old man's Irish accent fascinating, but the uniformed man got distracted in holding the door for a woman with arms dull of shopping bags. That's ok, they'd talk later. Matt was pretty cool for an old guy, he'd even watched Percy stab a hellhound once and only nodded in greeting as the demigod limped inside for a much needed nap after that surprise fight after a particularly long swim practice.

The Mist might've helped, but Percy kinda liked that he didn't even blink at whatever weird thing the old man must've seen.

Matt was cool.

He debated this while waiting for the elevator and glancing around the lobby. Archstone was ten times nicer that that ratty old place Smelly Gabe had insisted they lived in (Percy was ninety percent sure because all his poker buddies—who were equally as useless—lived there too).

Right before his mom and Paul had gotten married, they'd moved into Paul's slightly bigger apartment right down the road from Goode, but after Percy had returned from Greece/being missing and memory-less/Tartarus/Poseidon's Palace, Archstone was built and they practically gave their apartments away at a renting rate the Jackson family couldn't pass up. Besides, Paul's place was definitely a bachelor's apartment and they all felt like a fresh start is what they really needed after the rather stressful past year.

Archstone used to be an old hotel, probably built around the time Nico, Bianca, and Hazel were born and done up like an old theater. It went into disrepair and condemned decades ago, but had recently gotten a major face-lift and remodeling until it was the place to be, even including a dozen more floors with very standard and normal apartments on top.

It may have been a full fifteen blocks from Goode, which was a bit of a trek when Percy opted to walk as he did every so often, but it was amazing anyway.

And Percy, unlike most teenagers, didn't really mind moving. He held no attachments to apartments, only his mom and Paul and the fact his friends knew where to find him if there was an emergency. New York was his home, this entire island and the ocean the stretched out around and before it, and he didn't care in what specific portion he lived in, so long as he was here.

The paranoid demigod part of his brain told him there was something more—this building just didn't just get re-done like it had the moment there was peace in the Greek world and his family started to talk about finding a new place, much less finding the _perfect_ place so easily and with such great deals.

It was like an unspoken rule for when you're out on a quest: if it looked good, it was probably designed specifically to kill you.

Still, he wasn't on a quest.

He was at home.

Still….

It was in that mindset that he approached his apartment on the twelfth floor, the only inhabited apartment in this new floor so far with all the others not yet having buyers/renters. Which was strange seeing as they were being sold for practically nothing. Again, the paranoia stabbed him uncomfortably, but he brushed it off as usual.

He didn't know what it was that spiked him thinking all this, but he got a good idea when he felt his hackles go up.

Well, not literally, but that sixth sense that told him there was danger around got him glancing around the halls with hawk eyes searching for the threat, and jogging quickly to his apartment door. After all, if there was danger, it was probably there because that was just his luck, and he happened to know his mom was home alone.

Danger was going _down_ if it'd hurt his mom.

It made his stomach drop when he found the door unlocked and quickly rushed in, only to stop dead.

Battle-mode was switched off like a light and he felt his stomach ice over with nerves and fear.

Was it too late to turn around?

"Yes Perseus, I am afraid it is too late." The goddess said dryly to him. Right, she could hear his thoughts.

"L-Lady Athena." He stuttered, cheeks flushing as he gave an awkward bending bow thing, really _really_ unsure of what to do. His girlfriend's mom—who happened to _hate_ him and his father as was especially evident by her rather unimpressed and disapproving gray-eyed stare—was sitting on the couch having tea with his own mother.

Oh, _and_ with the Queen of the Underworld, who looked more like a teenager girl than the queen she'd been last time Percy'd seen her.

"Lady Persephone," He greeted with another awkward bowing thing. The flower-scented goddess nodded absentmindedly, her glassy eyes seeming to be in a daze as she considered whatever the women had been talking about before he'd entered.

_Why couldn't Annabeth be here_? He freaked mentally, hoping against hope Athena would ignore that. Annabeth was always with him for the hard parts, and this was _definitely_ a time he needed her… if only to keep her mother from incinerating him.

"Percy," his mom grinned, happy he was home as always and seeming oblivious—or ignoring more likely—his awkwardness.

"Hi mom." He smiled weakly at her.

"Do not be alarmed Jackson, I am simply here to discuss the arrangements we wish to make for the incoming demigods." Lady Athena said calmly, and Percy shifted closer to them rather than stand stupidly by the door, though he still remained standing, and hovered warily well away from the coffee table than actually sit with them.

"Arrangements my Lady?" He asked cautiously. He may have been freaked to hell by this little surprise, but talking to the gods about his fellow demigods on their behalf was very familiar territory by now. He had after all, spent a lot of time on Olympus arranging this all in the past months… he supposed it wasn't _so _strange once he considered it, I mean, he went to _their_ home to talk business… why not the other way around?

It was still alarming and odd but… not _so _odd maybe…?

Athena raised one cold eyebrow at him and he could tell she was judging his thought process, as she tended to do a lot. She obviously didn't think he was very good at logic, but accepted his conclusion nonetheless—it suited her goals after all.

"Many of the demigods wishing to start at the high school have nowhere to stay in New York. We wish to arrange that here at Archstone, with supervision of course." Athena explained curtly.

"And I'm going to be the mother hen!" Sally bubbled happily.

Percy blinked at them both in surprise and bewilderment, his mom especially as it belatedly hit him that his own mother seemed to be getting along with two goddesses like they were part of her book club. She did indeed seem overjoyed about something, so apparently what was happening wasn't too bad. It let him relax even further, seeing his mom ok with everything.

"Uh… as in, all these empty apartments?" He put together slowly.

"Of course." Athena nodded stiffly.

"And Ms. Sally wishes to make sure they've got a mother figure to look after them all." Persephone chimed in, waving absentmindedly.

"Speaking of which, Nico is coming to live with us. You need to call him and insist he join everyone at Goode, Percy, ok?" Sally tacked on as an afterthought.

Percy's head spun with the information.

"Woah, wait…. _Wait_, how am I supposed to get Nico to come? He doesn't even like to come for dinner!"

"Percy…" Sally said, putting a warning in her voice that Percy knew instantly to shut up and not argue when he heard.

"But… ok, I'll call him." He sighed in defeat and Sally brightened immensely. Lady Persephone watched this exchange with curious and completely baffled eyes while Lady Athena seemed to be watching it carefully, but her expression giving away no hints to her opinion in it. But, she always did that, so Percy didn't know what to make of it.

Percy considered what they there telling him about the apartments for a brief moment. He knew he'd seen this coming, but it was still a surprise.

Speaking of surprise, Athena raised another eyebrow suspiciously at him. "You suspected something like this was going to happen the moment you set foot in this building." She said, not asking, but telling him what he thought.

And she was right, no _duh_.

Sally however seemed shocked. "You did?" She responded, and Percy tried not to be insulted by his own mother's lack of faith in his detective skills.

He forced himself not to roll his eyes. "Well, I can kinda get a feel for when the gods or monsters are specifically involved in something. I didn't know and was kinda hoping it wasn't but… it's not like this is a _bad_ something…. On the bright side this isn't a monster trap." He shrugged.

Athena frowned lightly. "And you would have continued to live here even if you had the suspicion it was a trap laid by monsters?" She disapproved.

He blushed a bit.

"I didn't _know_ it was monsters: I had no proof and it was just a gut feeling…! And it wasn't monsters, was it? It was just the gods looking out for their kids, which is what I'd been going for all this time so… I'm glad I didn't resist."

Athena did not restrain herself from rolling her eyes, but Percy had a feeling she did that a lot when talking about him so he wasn't truly insulted by _her_ lack of faith in his intelligence. It was almost expected at this point.

"It was lovely to speak with you Sally," Athena nodded to his mom, folding her hands in her lap—which made Percy note that the tea had somehow disappeared—and giving her a polite nod. "I applaud you on your books and wish you well with that. I, however, am requested back on Olympus to relay what we have discussed, and I am sure Lord Hades will start to wonder where his wife has gone if Lady Persephone stays much longer." She said smoothly.

"And I'd be a fool to press my luck so much as this."Persephone agreed with an airy sigh. "This is the first Autumn I've seen in nigh sixty years, but I'd almost prefer the Underworld. Seeing the dead plants and being unable to help is more depressing than the fields of Punishment—at least there I have my gardens and gems to pass the time. However, I have as well enjoyed our talks. We will do it again." She agreed, slightly demanding.

Sally only blushed, and Percy knew his mom well enough to sense she was also refraining from rolling her eyes at the goddess's blunt and commanding tone.

"Of course, it was an honor to meet you both, truly. Thank you so much for your time, it was remarkable to speak with you and I'd welcome you back any time." Sally nodded politely.

First of all, Percy couldn't help but notice she was much nicer and more polite to the gods than he was, so, kudos for mom there. Secondly, she was talking kinda formally, which Percy knew could happen sometimes to everyone when you hung out around people who talked differently and you suddenly found yourself talking that way too—only his mom did it particularly easily, especially when she spent a long time writing about people who talked differently and would emerge from her writing talking with a British accent or something. Still both of those things only happened after quite a few hours immersed in a different language/dialect like that, and it made Percy wonder just how long they'd been here.

Athena stood, nodding to Sally before turning to the door. "Perseus." She noted dryly as she passed him, though he swore he heard the distain in it. He heard the door open and she was gone.

"I must take my leave as well," Persephone sighed, standing too, but being a bit more friendly in actually giving Sally a hug. "You have been a help. We shall discuss this further darling, perhaps next summer, yes?" She noted, again not really asking a question but commanding it.

"Of course my Lady." Sally nodded blushing a bit as the goddess's praise.

"Oh, and Perseus," She said before she too went for the door, "When you find Nico tell him that he must-"

Sally coughed. Rather unnecessarily in Percy's opinion.

Persephone's eyes darted to the mortal on the couch for a moment, realization flashing up her eyes. "Oh! Yes, quite right! I mean, tell him that _I wish_ to uh… _speak_ with him. Immediately, and if he says no then tell him I command it!" She stated happily, seeming pleased with herself.

Percy heard his mom give a soft sigh of defeat.

"Uh… sure thing ma'am." He nodded awkwardly.

"Excellent!" She bubbled, tossing Sally a brief wave before she too swept from the room and was gone, the front door suddenly closed as if no one had been there all day.

Percy turned back to him mom with wide eyes.

"Ok, tell me again why my girlfriend's mom (who _hates _me) and the Queen of the Underworld decided to corner you exactly?" He said warily.

Sally rolled her eyes and took a seat on the couch again. "With all these demigods, their parents want not only a place to stay but a home too. They explained to me everything they want to change, and what part Paul and I play." She said calmly.

"Did they _ask_ you, or did they _tell_ you?" Percy demanded, sitting next to her with a frown.

"Well, Lady Athena asked, but I'm afraid Lady Persephone is still learning to be… _understanding_, shall we say?" She sighed with an amused smile. "But that hardly matters because even if they didn't give me the option, I'd do it anyway. I'm a caretaker at heart, and these months of doing nothing… I mean, I love taking care of Paul, and you when you're home, but taking it as a full-time job for forty teenagers without a home? If this demigod thing doesn't work out, since I've got the idea now, I'll probably go open a teen center for troubled youth or something. I'm possibly more excited for this than I've been for anything ever before…!"

Percy watched his mom speak carefully. He couldn't deny she looked happy, and since he wasn't about to sabotage that, of course he was ok with it too. And besides, having his friends not only in his school but in his building? Having their own _floor?_

He'd admit Athena was brilliant for figuring this out, as he was sure she already knew.

"If you're sure…" He said, and she gave him a warm smile as she nodded. "Then… I guess I'm excited too. I still can't get over two goddesses having tea with my mother but I guess I'm going to have to just roll with this stuff seeing as you're more popular with the gods than I am now." He joked lightly.

"Lady Persephone is technically your aunt, mind you." Sally corrected him. "And Lady Athena is your future mother-in-law, so you _should_ be used to it."

"Mother!"

"I'm just speaking the truth honey. We brushed by that topic once or twice this afternoon, and we feel-"

"You know what? I'm good. Really. I have… homework and stuff, or something. Glad you had a good day mom, really am, but I'm going to just go now, okay?" He backed up quickly, grabbing his bag and retreating to him room as fast as possible.

Sally only laughed and picked up her laptop again, suddenly finding inspiration to write not quite as daunting as this morning.


	7. Finding the Joy in Nightmares

He could feel Annabeth pressed against his side, shivering in fear. Or maybe it was him that was shaking, it kinda felt like the world was being rocked apart, coming apart at the seams and ice cold fear leaking through the cracks.

"_Percy, it's ok. It's just another trick."_ He heard her say, trying in vain to whisper comfort into his ear.

Of course he knew that, but that didn't make it harder to not believe that the compressing rocks around them were real. They _felt_ real, and they would _really_ kill them in about thirty seconds.

Except that they were in Tartarus, and were already dead.

They'd faced so much: rooms to the brim of poisonous, fanged spiders, lakes of oil they couldn't swim, watching buildings crumble and getting crushed beneath it, being burned to death as fires randomly tore apart the blackened, shadowy scenery around them, but this was the worst.

Even suffocating in a lake of oil, even experiencing drowning ten times over as he already had, this was worse.

So, so much worse.

He'd always been claustrophobic. Ever since he was an infant. His mom loved to tell stories of when he was little, and how he'd always managed to get out of his crib and sleep in the middle of the floor rather than the confined mini-cage. He couldn't even stand being in hotel showers for too long, because they didn't have the glass door like he had at home, or the small windows near the ceiling like they did at camp.

The crevice they found themselves in couldn't have had more than an inch leeway around them to begin with when they'd slipped down a tunnel and lodged themselves there, much less half an hour later as it was slowly but surely getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller, and smaller…

He couldn't breathe. Be it from lack of room or fear, that stopped being important about ten minutes ago.

This was not Annabeth's nightmare, despite the fact she was living it by his side, but it was obviously hurting her just as much watching her boyfriend fall apart at the seams.

He couldn't do it.

He was going mad.

It had to stop.

He just… couldn't… do it…

…

Percy lurched forward and promptly fell of his bed, hitting his head on his nightstand. He barely even felt it as he scrambled to his feet and ran to his bedroom window, flinging it open and practically tossing himself out onto the fire escape.

He lay there, panting, bare back against the cold metal grating and staring up at the vast night sky, clouded over from the millions of lights of the city that never sleeps.

He didn't know how long he lay there, but his rapid breathing finally began to slow, and he took note at how raw his throat felt. Apparently he'd been screaming again.

He was forever plagued with guilt from the weeks he first came home from camp, trying to explain to his mom on how not to worry… but she was a caring soul, and loved him always, and it tore her apart. He finally had to make her promise not to check up on him anymore, because the only thing worse than waking up from a nightmare and trying to fight back old and current fears, was doing that and also having to comfort your worried-sick mother and fight off the crushing guilt you felt for worrying her so much.

Training. That was the only way he'd found he could push off the nightmares. If he practiced his powers, trained with his sword and learned other combat skills, pushed himself constantly and worked harder than he'd ever worked before… he might just become so exhausted he couldn't dream.

He almost wished for one of those dreams predicting his death or the end of the world, just so long as he didn't have to relive another moment of Tartarus again.

He remembered with a pang the day he, Annabeth, and Nico all returned to Camp Half-Blood. The next day, his girlfriend and his cousin moved into his cabin, and no one, not even Chiron, commented.

They didn't want to hear the screaming again.

There wasn't much you could do to prevent the screaming, but you could wake up before it got too bad. Waking up in the middle of a nightmare though, is arguably worse than the nightmare itself. Only the other two who'd been to Tartarus had a prayer of being any comfort.

Annabeth, beautifully brave and strong as she was, had only broken down and cried when her siblings had tried to comfort her that first night, and she practically ran to Percy's cabin the next morning. Nico had split his cabin in two, triggering his powers in sleep and cracking the earth beneath it. Percy had flooded the shores of the lake at camp and made everything very damp for a few days, but he hadn't effected his cabin so much, which is mainly why they chose cabin Three for new residence.

That, and Annabeth's was already occupied and—even though he'd never admit it—Nico's cabin reminded them too much of what they wanted to forget.

Percy was just impressed with Nico's bravery in going to sleep in his cabin at all, and secretly thought its destruction might not have been quite so accidental.

He didn't want to leave the open space, still jumpy with irrational fears pumping though his heart, but he had a schedule to keep and eventually pulled himself up and back through his window. He kept it open, feeling the lazy night air pulse through the room to keep him from feeling _too_ cramped.

He kept a drawer of drachma's (courtesy of Iris herself for his 'recovery' purposes), a crystal pendant, and a flashlight on his bedside table. He hung the crystal on his bedpost and pointed the flashlight at it, creating a mini-rainbow. He tossed the drachma and gave Iris his offering, and the iris message came to life on his side wall.

"Took you long enough." Annabeth smiled at him. She was curled up on her own bed, hair pointing in twenty different directions and dark circles beneath her eyes.

Beautiful, as always.

He smiled warmly at her, his heart relaxing that last little bit and a warm rush of relief chasing away the last icy tendrils of fear still pumping through his veins.

"It's only 5:53, if anything I'm _early."_ He told her matter-of-factly.

She grinned and simply rolled her eyes.

They had it worked out perfectly—which, was mostly Annabeth's planning and his input—so that they'd wake up (probably from nightmares) at roughly the same time, and took turns calling. Percy waited to go to bed until 12:30, in which he most likely would have a nightmare and wake up around 6:00am. Annabeth went to bed at 10:00pm, and woke up around 3:00am for the same reasons. Since California was three hours behind because of the time difference, that meant they woke up at the same time and could call each other.

Even if they didn't talk about their dreams, seeing her face always made Percy feel so much better for the day. Those gray eyes were better than a sunrise, and her voice did more than any alarm clock or dawn ever could. Seeing her was a fresh start, each and every day, and the night didn't matter one bit.

"You look terrible." She told him bluntly.

He rubbed his eyes wearily. "I had the uh… claustrophobic thing again. It was just… yeah. I'm tired. Spent a couple minutes out on the fire escape." He sighed.

She frowned comfortingly. That was his worst moment, and they both knew it. It was so far worse than a fear, it was the moment in his life that he was nothing of the guy he'd become, that he'd grown up to be—the moment when fear and pain had unraveled him into nothing. It may have killed them both, but it broke Percy.

"How are you? Besides the obvious." He tried to say jokingly, and they both ignored the way his voice came out slightly strangled.

"It was a good night." She admitted, giving a weak smile. "Fire… yeah. Just the fire. It was that one time we both tripped and our hands got stuck in the mud and it caught up. Not the worst one, by far." She sighed, regretfully and also contentedly.

The fire had killed them a bunch of times, but no, that wasn't the worst one. The times they died together, they was ok somehow. The times when they got split up, by accident or Tartarus messing with them, those times… well, they weren't so good. Percy in particular remembered the one time the fire got them, but it took Annabeth first, and he'd spent another twenty minutes trying to out run it before completely giving up and jumping into it, hoping against hope when it brought him back to life to kill him again, Annabeth would be there once more.

And she was.

That moment of relief in seeing her again was the best moment of Tartarus, though that wasn't saying much seeing how they were being hunted by a pack of hellhounds through a lava pit.

"Don't go there." Annabeth scolded him, seeing the train of thoughts written on his face.

He blushed slightly. "I can't help it. I thought I broke my promise for a full twenty minutes, and you don't even know the things that did to me, thinking I'd lost you again." He muttered, ashamed.

"Oh, I do. As you tell me every day." She smiled warmly. "And as horrible as it is, that's actually a comfort to me. Very flattering." She nodded in approval.

He snorted, chuckling lightly. "I could just say I love you, you know. You don't _need_ to hear it when I'm thinking about you dying." He rolled his eyes.

"Well then say it stupid." She pouted mockingly.

He grinned. "I love you wise girl."

She smiled knowingly back. "Oh, I know. And I love you too seaweed brain."

They grinned happily at each other for a long minute, the nightmares of the previous few hours completely forgotten.


	8. The Nymph Line Backer

"Hey… Percy?"

Percy halted in his laps to glance above the water, where Steve was sitting on the edge of the pool, legs kicking gently back and forth in the water.

"You're still here?" He said in surprise, having been sure the rest of the team had left half an hour ago. His mom and Paul were going out on a date tonight and wouldn't be home until late, so Percy had decided to spend another hour or so working on his times, even after everyone had left.

"Yeah… Bensil just left about five minutes ago too." Steve nodded absently.

"Wow, it's that late? I still have math homework…" Percy sighed dejectedly, pacing easily over to were Steve was sitting and leaning his arms against the wall. "Do you have Ms. Lark for pre-calculus? I have her last year too, and for Calc this year, and trust me, she just _loves_ giving homework, and it only increases with time…" He chatted happily, also frowning at the thought of the list of problems he still had to do.

"No, I have uh… Ms. Dale…" Steve said, not making eye contact, staring at where his legs were kicking up little whirlpools as they steadily paddled back and forth.

Percy may not have been one to notice the subtle things in conversation, but he could tell the freshman had something on his mind, which was truly out of the blue seeing as Steve seemed almost afraid to talk to Percy for some reason.

He'd had noticed early on (which, wasn't that long ago seeing as school only started two weeks ago) that Steve was slightly freaked out by Percy, though for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. The freshman was always the first one to listen to Percy when he talked, but the last to respond when Percy started a conversation, stuttering and fidgeting nervously when asked a direct question by the half-blood, and getting this wide-eyed look on his face, which wouldn't have been so strange if not for the fact that Steve was a rather even-toned guy: meaning the emotions expressed on his face ranged from looking at you, to not. Small smiles, slow blinks, and a very, very, _very_ calm temperament. Nearly comatose really.

"What can I do ya for?" Percy said helpfully, trying to get the massive boy to open up, and Steve only stared his wide-eyed look for a moment before giving a microscopic, nervous smile.

"I… uh… I actually have no clue how to say it, seeing as I've been swimming with you for a week now and uh… never got the chance to say it 'till now, which is slightly belated and now it's awkward and I'm shutting up now…" He babbled nervously.

Percy raised one eyebrow. "Is this a good or a bad thing that's so difficult to say?" He asked. Truly, he didn't care if it was bad at this point, just happy Steve had initiated a conversation with him at all. Percy was supposed to be the friendliest guy on the team, but he'd seen Steve joke around like normal with the other guys yet shy away from Percy like he was gonna get hit.

As a very sociable and generally considerate guy, that bothered Percy to no end. Not to mention the fact that the large boy had a familiar, nice air about him that reminded Percy of a water nymph, and that he really liked: he almost preferred talking to Steve over any of the other guys that he'd known longer because of that strange feeling of _rightness, _of familiarity—except for the fact that Steve avoided his attempts at being friendly like the plague.

Percy'd spent the last week-ish trying to get Steve to relax around him, and this conversation could be about the next apocalypse for all he cared, just so long as Steve wasn't acting so strange anymore.

Steve shrugged at Percy's question. "Neither, I guess. It just… is. Well… you're really modest and humble and stuff so…. you might find it a bit strange… maybe…"

Now Percy was thoroughly curious.

"I'm good with strange. Trust me, just meet my cousins for ten minutes and you'd understand." He grinned, and Steve gave another small, anxious smile, though his eyes looked a bit panicked at the idea of meeting Percy's cousins.

"I, uh… well, I should start by saying that I just moved here at the start of school from upper New York because… because of what's happening with the, uh, the Delphi school thing-y… um… Grover told me."

Percy nodded along with that information.

Wait…_what?_

"Grover. As in… Grover Underwood? My Grover?" Percy blinked rapidly in surprise. How the heck did Steve know Grover? He himself hardly ever saw Grover anymore outside the times the satyr visited camp over the summer and then as he'd stopped by to show him the gardens the first day of school, but it wasn't like the satyr didn't still _talk_ to him all the time through IM…

How had Grover just forgot to mention he knew… actually, Grover would have no reason to know Steve was on the swim team, Percy hadn't told him that so specifically… ok, it was no one's fault, but it was still certainly a shock.

"Lord of the Wild Grover?" Steve mumbled nervously. "Yeah, I know him. He's a great guy, and uh… the one who got Chiron to arrange my transfer here."

Percy stared.

Something wasn't connecting in his brain with this information. He supposed this was what it felt like to have his two worlds violently smashed together very surprisingly.

"You… know…"

"Chiron? Uh, yeah…. And about the Greek world? Yeah, that too…" Steve nodded, shrugging a bit again as he watched the water again, fidgeting as he tried to ignore Percy's shocked stare.

Percy, for all his cleverness, just kept staring.

"Ok, I don't know what is about me that lets people feel the need to simply dump massively important information on me and then sit there like it's no big deal, but you've _gotta_ explain this a bit more, I'm totally lost right now." Percy demanded, still a bit dazed as he pulled himself up out of the water and took a seat next to the taller boy.

Steve glanced at him with that same freaked-out look and gave a defeated sigh again.

"My mom's a uh, water nymph. She's part of a little feeder river in upstate New York." He said, his voice quavering as he stared determinedly at the water so as not to be looking at Percy.

"Oh. Part water nymph." Percy blurted out, that little nagging feeling in the back of his brain telling him something about Steve was familiar, suddenly clicking into place.

"You… don't sound so surprised." Steve pointed out cautiously, slowly risking a glance back at him.

"Well, I'm not really. Well, actually, I'm totally surprised, but the water nymph part is actually the part that makes the most sense to me. I thought there was something freakishly familiar about you the second I saw you, but just ignored it for the most part. Then, you wouldn't talk to me and I just…" He trailed off, Steve finally looking at him curiously, and not freaked out this time.

"I… I guess I was just a bit nervous." Steve admitted. "I mean… I may have grown up knowing all about the Greek world, but to my mom… and by proxy me… only one god ever mattered."

Percy blinked.

A second later it clicked.

"Poseidon." He said in mild surprise.

That wasn't so weird he supposed: the wind spirits at Camp Jupiter definitely had a thing for Zeus/Jupiter, and all the wood nymphs at Camp Half Blood burst into tears every time Pan was mentioned, so nymphs having a connection to the gods representing them wasn't so foreign. Not to mention that water nymphs in general tended to like him, and he could totally picture even the water nymphs that _didn't_ like him being a bit more than a little cooperative if Poseidon himself were the one asking a favor.

He was their god. And they had no need for any of the other gods on the most part, being spirits of water alone.

"Yep." Steve nodded in confirmation, shifting nervously again. "And, uh… my mom has friends in Camp Half-Blood. Keppa and Marsh?" He asked curiously.

The names flared in his memory, and then their faces.

"Oh yeah… they're in the lake, right? I swear, they flipped Annabeth's canoe on purpose just to tick her off, but, since I won that race so I didn't mind. They're nice." Percy nodded in confirmation.

"Nice, but terrible gossips." Steve amended with a fond smile.

"Most nymphs are." Percy shrugged. A second later, that information also sunk in. "So… you know what goes on in Camp then? About… everything?"

Steve looked abashed. "Uh, yeah… everything the nymphs know-"

"Which is everything seeing as they seem to all be very talented eavesdroppers," Percy added, and Steve smiled with an undenying shrug.

"Yes, everything they know, which is pretty much everything." He finished. "The first I heard about you, I was ten and the entire Greek world flipped because they all thought you stole the master bolt."

"I didn't-!"

"I know that _now,"_ Steve chuckled, and Percy beamed that he seemed to be lightening up some now that everything was out in the open. "And since to a water nymph, anything concerning Poseidon is basically mandatory to know…"

"You know pretty much all about me." Percy put together, giving him a reassuring smile.

Was it awkward? Yeah. Was it strange and kind of stalker like? Probably. Did it freak him out that there was someone he saw on a daily basis, knew very little about, and yet who knew practically his life history? More than a little.

But, as he'd said, Percy was very used to weird. He took it in stride.

"Well this is great! And I thought _I_ was the only one cheating by being on the swim team, now I've got a partner in crime!" He said brightly.

Steve blushed lightly. "I'm not _that_ good. I mean, I can swim better than most, but I'm terrible at forms for swimming competitively. Still, being close to the water is what I'm going for." He confessed.

"A noble cause, seeing as I'm sharing in it." Percy nodded along happily.

Steve smiled thoughtfully. "And I doubt you're even cheating, you seem to be trying really hard to _not_ use any powers. I even felt you pushing the currents against us earlier, which is pretty clever training actually."

Percy beamed mischievously. "Why thank you. There's a reason we're the best team in state, and it's not totally because of Bensil's training regimes, though still connected to our hard work." He declared proudly. "And I'm not interested in cheating for medals or showing off. A high school swimming competition just isn't worth it. No competition is worth it actually, there are more important things I guess than being the best at this one thing." He considered aloud.

"You know… you're not anything like I thought you'd be." Steve confessed, giving Percy a curious look.

"You thought I'd be a stuck up jerk." Percy connected. Steve nodded abashedly, and he chuckled. "To tell ya the truth, I get that a lot. I don't know why, but everyone I meet who knows my reputation assumes that, and it's not just wrong for me, but a lot of others. The Seven? They're all really nice, good people. I wouldn't have fought so hard for them if they weren't, but they're just as chill and honest as me."

"I kinda doubt that." Steve smirked. "Not the 'they're good people' bit, but that they're as honest as you. Your trust in people seems like a one in a million kind of thing." Percy actually blushed and had to look away, embarrassed. "And besides, it's not exactly a secret in the Greek world what your fatal flaw is. Gaea kind of made sure of that." Steve said cautiously.

Percy sighed. "Yeah, well… you don't have to be a child of Athena to figure it out. Know my story, and it kinda just falls into place."

"I'll say." Steve laughed gently. "Going to Tartarus for Annabeth Chase? If we hadn't figured it out before that, everyone knows it now."

Percy flinched at the mention of Tartarus and slipped back into the pool again, letting the free currents calm his mind. He laughed humorlessly at Steve's attempt at a joke as he treaded water, trying to shake the thoughts creeping up on him.

"I'm sorry." Steve said immediately, seeing Percy's face. "You're just so… I don't know, _happy_ all the time, I figured…"

"No, it's not you." Percy muttered, sinking into the water more like a child wrapping their favorite blanket a bit tighter around them. "You're not the first, and definitely not the last to bring it up. I need to figure out how to deal… but I don't think it's one of those things you can just get over and live with."

"And no one would expect you to." Steve said seriously. "Even the nymphs who don't especially care about you, or aren't even related to water in anyway, think the world of you for going, much less coming back."

Percy half grimace, half smiled. He wasn't really sure how to take that compliment (not that he ever knew how to take a compliment).

He could hardly say it was his pleasure, much less that he was proud of it. Relieved and thankful he made it out in relatively one piece, but not much else. It wasn't like he got out single handedly—that praise was for Nico alone.

"So… you moved here because Grover suggested it?" Percy asked, and Steve—bless him—acknowledged the subject change for what it was with a nod, and easily moved on topics, much to Percy's relief.

"Well, my family was having some problems… well, not problems, more like changes. Grover was there to help, but it turned out he didn't need to be. But, he was there and saw my issue so he suggested moving down here, and in all honesty I was excited. I'd never moved so far from home and loved the idea of the city… and then I'd be going to your school, and you were practically my idol since I was ten…" He admitted in a rush, blushing heavily and pointedly looking out across the water.

Percy was odded out, but respectfully moved on from Steve's embarrassment.

"Flattered." He grinned. "Hope I don't disappoint with how painful boring I am," He joked. "So what problems? Not something with your mom's river right?" He pressed, knowing that if something had happened to Steve's mom he felt a surge of protectiveness to help her.

Steve looked relieved he didn't comment on his embarrassing confession and then waved off his concern.

"It turned out to not be a problem at all- for my mom at least. You see, my dad and I could never move far from the creek or we'd never see her because she couldn't go very far from it, but over the summer our town announced a project to funnel her river underground."

"What!?" Percy flipped. It was one thing to mess with a water nymph—to which he had a vague feeling of protectiveness for anyway—but another entirely for that nymph to have a mortal _family_ and be separated like that…

"It's ok," Steve brushed it off, finally looking up and giving Percy an honest smile. He seemed eternally cheered at the by-proxy anger Percy'd felt on behalf of his mother. "She was honestly fine with it, _happy _even. She said she had some old friends who were funneled underground decades ago that she missed… and besides, I'm physically older than her now and she was never the greatest mother. Always in and out… but, she did care. She didn't want me and Dad stuck hanging around the river forever, only to see her once a week, if that."

Percy frowned. Yes, nymphs (regrettably, especially water nymphs) were a bit of air heads and didn't take things too seriously, but it still bothered Percy to hear this. He knew nymphs could have children yes, even met more than his fair share of those children, but he'd never given much thought to how raising those kids would work… apparently not much better than the raising of a demigod, except for the fact that the absent parent could always be found near their tree/river/nature home, but was far from "parent" material. Nymphs by nature weren't concerned with mortal things, treating them like playthings rather than important, and he supposed the same went for their mortal children.

"Sorry dude." Percy said honestly. He couldn't say much more, except offer sympathy.

"I don't say it to complain, I know of everyone I could tell this to, you got the short end of that stick." Steve pointed out to him.

Percy smirked. "Yeah, demigods all have daddy issues I suppose. Can't do much but offer sympathy." He sighed, and Steve looked cheered by that.

"My mom's not gone, she now feeds into a reservoir a couple miles from where she was originally." He explained. "I actually have Grover to thank for ensuring that. She doesn't surface often, but I can always visit if I really need to. Parental issues, yeah, but it's not so bad. Not in comparison to the rest of the Greek world." He reasoned.

Percy straightened up as an idea hit him.

(And no, not a crazy one either)

"You know, you'd love my mom, and I know for a _fact_ she's going to _love_ you…"


	9. The Architect

"**When a girl thinks of her future with her boyfriend, it's normal. When a boy thinks about a future with his girlfriend, he's serious."**

**0000000000000**

"Hello, are you on the swim team?" A clear voice asked, right behind where Jasper and Juliana stood bickering about whose turn it was to lug their math textbook home.

"Wha?!" Jasper said cleverly, jumping a bit in surprise, while Juliana just turned around in mild curiosity.

"Uh, yeah, we are. How did you…" She trailed off, glancing at the Goode High Swim Team sweatshirt her twin was wearing. "Uh, never mind. Yes, we're on the swim team, how can we help ya?" She said easily.

The blonde just smiled knowingly.

It was not lost on either twin—Jasper especially—how beautiful she was. She had long golden curls pulled back in a loose tie at the nape of her neck, perfectly tanned skin and sharp gray eyes that seemed to be staring right through their souls as she carefully considered them. She had on plain gray skinny jeans, red chucks, and a white v-neck shirt with no embellishments or jewelry, but she very clearly didn't need it. She had a perfectly curved, athletic frame, and held herself confidently, sending the message that she knew everything going on and had already figured everything out, perfectly contradicting her polite question.

She was what every popular girl _wished_ they could look like, but was obviously not concerned about looks at all. Just at a glance, they knew she was the type of girl to play rough with the boys rather than sit on the bleachers—and could probably kick all their butts at it too— and yet, she was gorgeous.

"I'm looking for Percy Jackson, he's on the swim team too, I think?" She said politely, but not really making it sound like a question.

"Oh, yeah! We were just heading to him now—we all have a study hall the last period of the day and we do our homework out in the gardens before swim practice. He should be out there now, we'll show you!" Jasper said eagerly, while Juliana just rolled her eyes at her brother's over-zealousness. She caught Annabeth's eye and the girls shared a knowing smile at the boy's obvious mini-crush.

Juliana chuckled while yanking the math textbook from Jasper's neighboring locker and shoving it into his arms before slamming both doors and leading the charge out to the front court yard. Jasper didn't even seem to notice he'd lost their argument about the textbook, too busy smiling at the blonde broadly and _not_ seeing her skeptically amused smirk back at him.

"So, I haven't seen you around school before, are you new?" Juliana made small talk while pointedly cutting Jasper out of the girls' conversation. He didn't seem to notice. Or care.

"In a sense, yes." The blonde agreed with a smile. "I'm starting here next week, but I arrived early and thought I'd surprise a friend."

"Oh! Are you one of the kids from the Delphi school? They're all starting next week too." Juliana connected.

"I am." She nodded in confirmation.

"Woah! Really!?" Jasper blinked.

"Really." She said smoothly back, seemingly highly amused by his shock. After all, Percy had told her what kind of kids Goode was expecting of the Delphi school, thanks to principal West's wording at the start of the year. "Percy, being Percy, is ecstatic we're all joining, even some of the, uh, less than friendly members of our little group. I was talking to him last night and he wouldn't shut up about the swim meet you have this weekend, so instead of arriving with everyone else I decided to show up a bit early and cheer him on."

"Well that's nice of you," Juliana nodded in approval. "And trust me, we _know_ how excited he is. We typically avoid talking about next Monday or he gets all jittering and won't stop talking."

The blonde let out an earnest laugh at that. "Oh god! I can just picture him doing that!"

The twins chuckled, also finding the typically easy going guy blabbering on and on about random things with that big grin on his face when he's excited really funny. Being ADHD, when Percy got on a roll he could jump conversations and go off on tangents the rest of them had a hard go of following, but it was pretty hilarious sometimes.

"Have you known him long?" Jasper asked.

"Since sixth grade." She confirmed. "He's my best friend."

"Aw," Juliana cooed. "And you guys go to that camp thing-y over the summer?"

"Yeah, we're both counselors, though I've been there much longer, since I was seven. I remember when he first showed up—rather clueless, wasn't he?" She smiled fondly.

"'Rather clueless' is the definition of Percy Jackson." Jasper snickered.

"Rather clueless, but very kind." Juliana amended agreeably.

The blonde grinned. "I think I like that definition. In fact, I'm writing that down when I get a moment…"

They laughed, and with that they were at the front doors of Goode. Percy was already sitting on the edge of the central fountain, his backpack forgotten at his feet while talking animatedly to Kyle—who seemed to think whatever conversation they were having was an argument while Percy laughed along, completely oblivious. The rest of the team was sitting on the edge of the fountain or on the ground around them, opening books to finish their homework and pointedly ignoring the two talking/arguing.

"Now, what's the best way to scare him?" The blonde hummed thoughtfully to herself. "You wouldn't mind if I hid behind you two as you walk out?" She asked.

"Nope!" Jasper said brightly. "If you can scare Percy, all the power to ya. He's not thrown by anything!"

"Yes, well, watch and learn." She gave a sly, wicked smile that had the twins grinning deviously as well. They stood shoulder to shoulder and exited the building, letting her sneak behind them as they crossed the plaza.

"I'm telling you, she had horns!" Kyle's voice reached them.

"Just because she gave you thirty extra problems to do doesn't mean she's the Devil." Percy's retort was marred by him trying not to laugh.

"And how would you know?! Math teachers could all be in some evil cult to make sure children get crushed under the weight of their homework! What if I _died!? _THEN you'd be sorry, wouldn't you?!"

"No, I'd be enjoying the peace and quiet. And I'm _in_ your math class, she only gave you the extra problems because you wouldn't stop shooting spitballs at her inspiration posters. It's your own fault you know."

"Ok, firstly, those posters are LAME, and secondly, she's still evil!"

"No, I _know_ evil math teachers and Ms. Lark is actually pretty nice."

"Says the guy whose step dad IS a teacher." Juliana cut into the argument as they reached them.

"Teachers aren't evil, they're people. People brave enough to risk high school for the rest of their lives in the vain hope of teaching teenagers something." Percy defended his step father to the newly arrived twins.

"Brave? Suicidal? It's a fine line…" Jasper sighed dramatically. He glanced excitedly backwards, waiting for the blonde to jump out, but blanched when he saw no one behind them. He elbowed his sister, who looked annoyed for a second before glancing back and also looking confused.

"You guys lose something?" Alexa raised an eyebrow at the two, who quickly shook it off.

"Uh, no, it's just… nothing." Juliana dismissed, slightly baffled.

"No _one_, actually."A sly voice corrected automatically, and everyone jumped, snapping around to the source of the voice to see a very pretty blonde sitting on a ledge of the centerpiece of the fountain, directly behind Percy, legs swinging casually as if she'd been there all afternoon.

Percy jumped up as if he'd been electrocuted, spinning to face her correctly with a blinding grin lighting up his face.

"Annabeth!" He cried happily.

"Miss me?" She chuckled, leaping off the fountain and landing on the seat Percy had just vacated, but she didn't get much farther, Percy swooping forward and picking her up, spinning around with her in a tight hug.

"How about _yes!"_ He cried, still grinning as he finally released her.

She let out a bell-like laugh. "I talked to you this morning you moron." She insulted fondly.

"Yes, but I haven't like, _seen_ you in person in forever!"

"Since when is three weeks forever?"

"Since now—but that's not important: you're here early!"

"Well, _someone_ wouldn't shut up about their first swim meet, and what kind of girlfriend would I be if I wasn't there to cheer for the other team?"

"The normal kind." Percy deadpanned back, but it was broken in a second when the grin returned. "_But_, you wouldn't be Annabeth, which means you wouldn't be my kind of girlfriend at all, so, cheer away! But just so you know, you'll be cheering for the Bronx _Barnacles_, so…"

"Gosh, who came up with that name?"

"We're actually kinda amused by it…"

"Says the Barnacle Brain himself."

"What!?"

"WOAH!" Kyle finally interrupted, putting a voice to the others' shocked faces.

"Can I help you?" Annabeth said politely, somehow also making it seem slightly mocking.

"Uh… who… exactly _are_ you?" Tilly said bluntly.

"Annabeth Chase," Steve realized with a slow smile, and the couple—who still hadn't completely released each other from their earlier hug, looked over at him.

"That's Steve, I was telling you…" Percy trailed off to Annabeth, whose face lit up in recognition and smiled warmly back at him.

"Woah, woah, woah… Annabeth as in… wait, _what?!" _Todd balked.

"Oh, that's right, you think I'm fictional." Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Well, for your information…" She grinned, cupping a surprised Percy by the cheeks and pulling him into a warm kiss. He seemed taken off guard for all about half a second before somehow managing to continue to grin into their kiss.

After a few very long and awkward seconds—for everyone but the couple—she finally released him and glanced back at Todd.

"Yes, I'm _that_ Annabeth Chase, _and_ current non-fictional girlfriend, thankyouverymuch." She said triumphantly while the swim team just gaped at them.

"Dude…" Kyle seemed to be in shock. "_Dude…._ You didn't tell us your girlfriend was hot!"

"Oi!" Percy yelled.

"Thank you… I think." Annabeth frowned.

"You are _such_ an idiot." Alexa sighed in defeat while Tilly whacked him over the head none-too-gently.

"Well, I see why you get along with him." Annabeth nodded in approval to Percy.

"Oi!" He said, yet again.

"Well, uh… it's nice to meet you then, Annabeth. Apparently we owe Percy an apology." Alexa said reasonably.

"Which, they're not going to bother to give." Percy added in.

"True enough." Todd shrugged, picking up his bag and going about pulling his homework out.

"Well, _I'm_ sorry I never got to gossip with your girl behind your back as I do with all my boys' girls." Tilly said in a business-like tone, standing and hooking Annabeth's unoccupied arm in hers. Right on cue, Kyle, Todd, and Jasper all groaned in dread at that statement. "Stick around girly, we don't keep secrets from family, and if he ain't treatin' you right, well… don't worry, we'll make 'im regret it." She bubbled, patting her fellow' blonde's arm comfortingly and ignoring the annoyed looks Percy was shooting at her.

"Percy, I _like_ your friends…" Annabeth grinned, abandoning him and leaning against Tilly happily while Percy face-palmed.

"Yes, I like them too… when they're NOT being irritating, _Tilly._"

"Shut up dunderhead, I've got gossip to catch up on. So, Annabeth, tell us how you two met…"

"Tell us an embarrassing story!" Jasper mocked in a poor interpretation of Tilly's voice.

"Tell us about you two's first kiss!" Todd joined in, disgruntled.

"Tell us about what a softie he really is!" Kyle huffed.

"Woah, woah, she never asked that one, did she?" Jasper frowned, trying to remember.

"Uh… no." A suddenly very red Kyle denied.

"I _did_, but I used it as _blackmail_ you idiot! I hadn't told anyone so far, but since you opened that can of worms, why don't ya tell 'em yourself?" Tilly rolled her eyes at the buff boy, who simply blushed heavier.

"Don't you three laugh! Your time is coming, I promise you that!" Kyle snapped at the three freshmen still chuckling at his awkwardness, and they shut up immediately.

"Wow, you really got the pack mentality down, haven't you?" Annabeth noted calmly to Percy, watching this exchange with calculating, yet amused eyes. The group seemed to bicker and move as one, the conversation flowing in sync with each other, not unlike demigods did only with less fluctuating emotions and tempers.

"Yep. Just like being at a campfire." He told her happily, and only she knew the reference to the Camp Half Blood fire pit, in which the conversation and emotions of the hundred odd demigods present during summer nights fluctuated more than a spastic yo-yo, except perfectly in sync as a group and visible through the colors of the enchanted fire pit itself. It was a unique situation and group that Percy had somehow replicated in his swim team, and Annabeth found it oddly amusing.

Seeing that they weren't going to elaborate on the inside joke, Tilly took the opportunity to commandeer the conversation again.

"But seriously! How did you two meet?" She demanded, stealing Annabeth from Percy again and pulling her to the ground to join the make-shift circle they'd created. Percy re-took his old seat and Annabeth moved a bit over to use lean against his legs and get comfortable.

"Ok, you go embarrass me, but I have this stupid math homework to finish before school ends…" Percy sighed.

"It's Calculus, right? I can help if you've got time after practice you know." Annabeth offered, glancing up at him.

He grimaced into his textbook page. "Oh, don't I know it… but let me make sure I'm really as stupid as I feel before you confirm it, ok?" He smirked and she grinned.

"You're good at Calculus?" Alexa asked, intrigued.

Percy snorted. "Annabeth is good at everything."

Said girl shoved his legs playfully, but answered her, "I like to learn I suppose, so I tend to read a lot and research a lot of different topics-"

"For _fun,"_ Percy cut in without looking up, and she ignored him.

"So I'm pretty knowledgeable about the general things. Plus, I'll be in starting in the second course of AP Calculus here because I took the first one back in 'Frisco, so I know a thing or two about the Calculus 1 course already to be able to help."

"She's a genius," Percy said matter-of-factly, still not looking up from his own problems.

"Which makes you what? Even more stupid than usual?" Todd smirked.

"Percy is actually very observant and intelligent when he chooses to be," Annabeth defended her boyfriend.

"Which means yes," Said boyfriend confirmed, and they all chuckled.

"But aren't you Dyslexic too?" Juliana frowned.

"Yes, but when I want to know something, a language barrier is the least of what could stop me." She smiled mischievously while Percy just shook his head in amazement.

"Which is completely beyond me," He muttered.

"Well, I'm fascinated by it," Juliana nodded, and Annabeth grinned at her. "I wouldn't have thought Percy'd end up with anyone like you, but I can honestly say it's a pleasure and a surprise to meet you… which, come to think of it, we still haven't done yet! I'm Juliana Hess." She leaned over and shook Annabeth's hand playfully, and the blonde nodded politely back to her.

"And I assume the boy who looks just like you is Jasper?" Annabeth nodded and Jasper beamed at being mentioned, nodding eagerly.

"Unfortunately," Juliana sighed, glancing at her brother than their matching chocolate brown eyes, dark hair, and identical freckles. She was just masculine enough, and Jasper just feminine enough, that if he grew his hair out and she chopped hers, people would have a hell of a go telling them apart, though not impossible. Still, for a teenage girl, that wasn't something to boast about. And Jasper was too oblivious to care.

"What, do you tell her everything?" Kyle joked to Percy, and was mildly surprised when both he and Annabeth chorused a definite "Yes!" Back at him.

"Secrets are overrated anyway," Percy told him, while Annabeth smirked knowingly. "And besides, there isn't anything Annabeth wouldn't find out on her own anyway. She's stubborn like that." His girlfriend shot him a look, but she didn't deny it.

"And by that same token, how _much_ does he tell you? Ya think you can name us then?" Tilly challenged, and Annabeth grinned deviously.

"Well… he called you Tilly earlier, so you're Tilly Harper and the team's best sprint swimmer next to Kyle Dent, which, judging by the earlier comment on my hotness is _you."_ She accused, pointing to Kyle who shrugged, unashamed. "The twins, Juliana and Jasper Hess I just met, Steve I know through Grover and some other friends as well, Alexa Walsh is the only other girl, Todd Kruger's the captain and since you talk more than that last two is probably you, and judging by appearances that only leaves Peter Sprout and Tom O'Malley." She listed off, pointing to each of them in turn.

"You mentioned the hair, didn't you?" Tom sighed to Percy, running one hand through his bright orange curls.

Percy chuckled lightly. "It might've come up." He allowed.

"Damn, and here we are knowing _nothing_ about you! What, did he tell you our signs and blood type then too?" Todd complained good-naturedly.

"You didn't even believe she was real! You'd've thought me insane if I started telling you all about my supposedly fictional girlfriend…" Percy grumbled.

"Aw, don't worry Perce, we think you're insane for other reasons too." Tilly mocked, patting his arm sardonically. She quickly turned back to Annabeth. "Again, how did you two meet? At that camp thing?"

"Yes," Annabeth nodded. "I've been going to the camp since I was seven, and when we were both twelve he showed up in a bit of a hurry." She ignored Percy's scoff. "Basically he hit his head pretty hard on entry and was unconscious for the first week or so, and I was the one make sure he didn't die on us." She lied/explained easily.

The team looked fascinated. "How'd you hit your head arriving at a summer camp?" Kyle snickered at his friend.

"I'm talented like that." Percy huffed not looking up from his book.

"He was also very talented in getting everyone but himself wet when the camp bullies tried to give him a swirly, and perfectly talented at being bait for said bullies during capture the flag." Annabeth snickered, and now Percy was rolling his eyes.

"Okay, first of all, _she_ was the one who set me up as bait-"

"And it _worked, _didn't it?"

"And secondly, if I weren't as good with water as I am then I coulda _died_ thankyouverymuch! And you call _my_ plans risky."

"Well they are. And not thought out properly. In fact-"

"I know, I know, if it were anyone else or anyone less lucky-"

"You'd be dead a dozen and a half times over already. Fifty seven actually, if I'm counting correctly."

"Actually, sixty eight. There _was_ those eight months when I was away-"

"Perseus Jackson are you telling me-!"

"No, no I am not. And now I never will if you're gonna yell at me about it. I'm _fine_ wise girl, and this was months ago."

"I _knew_ you were editing! You always do, and I just _knew_ it!"

"Of course you did. Haven't we already established you know everything?"

"Shut up and do your homework."

The team was watching this exchange like a tennis match, and Kyle even started rubbing his neck from snapping his head from in between them.

"And I thought we bickered." Juliana nodded to her brother, who was simply gaping at the conversation with fascination.

"You haven't seen bickering until you've met Percy's cousins." Annabeth said knowingly, eyes wide with implications. "We may fight a lot-"

"Constantly." Percy confirmed.

"But _they_ are a sight." She finished.

"You have cousins?" The twins chorused, the same time Steve said "Bet that's interesting." And Tilly and Alexa both dismissed that statement with a "Percy doesn't fight!"

Annabeth raised her eyebrows at all of them.

"I knew you had the cousin that was in Greece with you," Todd remembered. "But you have another one?" He inquired.

"Thalia." Percy nodded with a smile. "She's… uh, well…"

"My best friend," Annabeth supplied. "But she's a handful. _I_ personally think she's the girl version of Percy, only tougher." She explained.

"And meaner." Percy stuck his tongue out.

"They're _too_ similar sometimes, which is why they rub each other the wrong way so often." Annabeth sighed.

"But, she's a good friend too." Percy amended. "She's the kinda strong you want to have beside you when things aren't going well." He acknowledged.

"And so far as the 'Percy doesn't fight' comment," Annabeth nodded to Tilly and Alexa, "Well… let us just wait until you see the three of them in the same room and see if you still think that."

"Just wait until Clarisse's in the same room to see that." Percy muttered, and the couple shared an excited smile.

"I enjoy those fights." Annabeth grinned savagely.

"And I'm just glad she stopped using lamer." Percy muttered.

"Only because you've snapped it three times already." Annabeth pointed out with a smirk. Percy smirked as well but didn't comment.

"I feel like we're missing a lot during these conversations." Tilly noted loudly to Kyle so that everyone else still heard.

"That's what happened when you know someone for too long." Juliana sighed, shooting her brother a mild glare, who promptly stuck his tongue out at her.

"How long have you two been dating?" Alexa asked curiously.

"Just over a year now, right?" Percy said, glancing to his girlfriend who smiled warmly at the memory. "But we've been best friends for years."

"It doesn't seem that long. You were away for most of it." Annabeth said with a hint of frustration and sadness in her voice that maybe only Percy picked up on. He quickly kissed the top of her head in silent comfort, and she leaned into his legs a bit more in response.

"You were in Greece together, right?" Todd remembered.

"Only for a couple weeks." Annabeth corrected smoothly, her expression giving nothing away. "Our cave incident marked its end, and then after some recovery we had a month or so of camp, but he was gone for eight months before that." She shot Percy a look as if to blame him for his absence, but only the couple knew the gesture was purely for show.

"Blame my stupid aunt." He muttered darkly.

"_Stupid_ indeed." Annabeth agreed acidly.

"I'll agree to that, though I have no idea who you're talking about," Todd chimed in, "But whatever it was, Percy dropped out of all our meets second half of the year last year." He complained.

Percy beamed. "And you still placed in state, didn't you?" He pointed out smugly.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but we _woulda_ made nationals too if we'd had you there too!" He pouted.

"This year Ky, this year." Tilly patted the large boy's arm patronizingly.

"_This year,_ he's not allowed to leave me, so he'll be here." Annabeth declared to them, and Percy only grinned into his homework.

"And she's not allowed to leave me either, so she'll be at the meets. Rooting for us or the other teams, I'm still not sure." Percy grinned, ignoring Annabeth's exasperated glare.

"You, Ms. Jackson, Mr. Blowfis, and the Hess parents will be our cheering section," Tilly sighed dramatically, "Unfortunately most of our parents aren't into swimming, or sports really if you're talking about mine." She huffed.

"My dad will come." Steve added in, and the old team smiled at that.

"My parents think sports are for a college application, not fun." Todd rolled his eyes.

"My mom works most weekends." Alexa frowned.

"Same." Peter and Tom chorused.

"And my parents are just confused about why I don't have a job yet." Kyle snickered. "Truthfully I wouldn't want them there. _'why are you doing this', 'why are you doing that', 'since when did the school have a pool…?!'. _Dudes, if you think I'm slow on the uptake, just don't ask about the parents." He chuckled fondly.

"It's scary to think he's the responsible one of that family." Tilly said with wide, meaningful eyes to Annabeth, who fought back a laugh.

"Well, I can guarantee once our friends from the Delphi school get here you'll have a much bigger cheering section." Annabeth reassured them. "Though, that might mean you'll be attending some mathlete sessions and lacrosse games too." She smiled knowingly. "We might even start our own little fencing club too, just for kicks." She grinned.

Percy straightened up in surprise, knowing full well if they right people were in that club, the traditional idea of "fencing" might be thrown out the window for something much more interesting.

And that was very interesting to the swordsman he was at heart.

Annabeth just smirked, sensing her boyfriend's sudden enthusiasm.

And she wasn't the only one.

"Interested Percy?" Todd noted.

Percy only shrugged easily with a sly grin. "I actually like fencing." He said casually. "That might be a club I'd join in my free time."

The team gave him some wired looks. "The things you learn about a guy." Kyle marveled with an eye roll.

"To each their own," Juliana dismissed, "_I_ on the other hand, don't care for being stabbed repeatedly."

"If you were any good at it, you wouldn't be the one getting stabbed." Jasper pointed out annoyingly to her, and she shot him a glare.

"So, Annabeth," Tilly called the new arrival's attention back to her, "Where are you staying in New York if you've just got here from San Fran?"

"At Archstone, Percy's apartment building." She grinned knowingly.

"Well, _that's_ not suspicious," Kyle burst out laughing, waggling his eyebrows at Percy, who blushed involuntarily.

"How'd you manage to swing that?" Tilly gushed, her gossip meter going off.

"Archstone is brand knew and has apartments for cheap," Annabeth reasoned easily, "the Delphi school was a boarding thing of sort a bit of ways outside of Manhattan, so instead of building a new school, they're renting out those apartments for us so we can attend Goode." She explained.

The team looked fascinated. "So you get the place to yourself?!" Kyle grinned.

"I'm sharing it with others, and will have a roommate of course, but yeah, there'll be roughly five to ten of us per apartment which we get for ourselves while we're here." She said.

"Except for my little cousin, who's coming to live with us in my apartment when he starts." Percy chimed in.

"Wow, no wonder you're so freakin excited all the time—your friends and family are basically moving in!" Alexa smirked at Percy, who blushed again at the mention of his earlier eagerness.

"It's going to be mayhem." Annabeth grinned.

"That's a requirement for our family." Percy chuckled.

No one missed the way he'd said "family" instead of "friends and family". In a way, that was just so _Percy_.

And even then, no one could really know how happy he was about all this. Because each and every person arriving next week _was_ his family, his friend, his brother or sister in arms.

Suddenly he couldn't think about the Calculus in his lap, too focused on the girl of his dreams leaning into him, his teammates laughing and getting along great with the other half of his heart, in a beautiful garden of hidden nymphs who'd been saved from the destruction of their forests…

And he couldn't help but feel just so... _complete, _so full of…_hope._


	10. A Good Night

"Just imagine: it could be like this every night." Annabeth said happily, snuggling closer to Percy's chest where they sat on the couch.

Percy smiled as he turned off the TV. It was late anyway, his parents having gone to bed an hour ago. Even though it was Friday night, he _did_ have a swim meet pretty early in the morning tomorrow… though he and Annabeth would both probably be up well in time for that. Neither of them slept too much anymore.

"Apart from the history homework, I'm a thousand percent ok with that." He chuckled, kissing the top of her hair and leaving his head there, too tired to move it again.

The rest of the day since Annabeth surprised him at school had been incredible, yet so unbelievably simple.

She'd teased him while he finished his Calculus homework and joked around with the team, and then stayed after and watched him during swim practice—though in all honesty she was really reading the book on bridge architecture Percy had in his locker for when she got here and occasionally making a comment to distract him. They'd walked home and had dinner with Sally and Paul—Percy's mom simply being over the moon she was here and making a mini-feast complete with blue cannolis for dessert in celebration—and then she'd helped him decipher his history homework. Then, they'd gone to the roof and tried to out-do one another yet again in a simple sparring match.

Exhausted, they'd collapsed onto the couch and watched some TV until the clock on the wall had rung out, marking it one o'clock in the morning and Annabeth decided it was time for both of them to sleep so Percy didn't completely fail in his meet the next morning.

A very average day.

And the best day _ever._

"I know I essentially just watched you swim and try to read English, then kicked your butt as _usual_," He snorted but didn't comment. "…but I actually had a lot of fun today. How is that even possible?" She wondered aloud.

"I know what you mean, we didn't even kill anything today." He grinned. She shoved him half-heartedly, too comfortable to move just yet. "But seriously… today was… _good._ Better than the last month, though I didn't quite think it was _bad _exactly… that is, until you showed up and made me realize just how… _weird_ those days were."

"Weird?" She asked, and he could hear the smirk in her voice.

He shrugged slightly so as not to disrupt her. "Not quite right." He clarified.

"And I make it all better?" She teased gently.

"Of course." He smiled.

"And in all honesty… boring as it was, you made today the best I've had in a while too." She sighed.

"And I promise for there to be many more very average awesome days." He declared softly. "Because, even though you couldn't come for this first month, I don't plan on ever leaving your side again. Okay?"

"Fine by me." She smiled, fighting back a yawn. "I'll find a way to stomach you, if you can figure out how to put up with me." She demanded.

"I've got a hundred things on my mind, and twice that many problems in trying to figure out how to get forty demigods to move in here peacefully, _without_ destroying the building—and I can truthfully say that _that_ is not one of my problems. If anything, it's my reward for doing all this…"

She couldn't help but grin, even though she was too tired to even open her eyes at that point.

"Best damn reward you've ever gotten." She decided.

"The very best." He agreed, finally giving in and closing his eyes too.

And even though they couldn't quite manage to rouse themselves into actually going to their own beds, and eventually ended up drifting off into the first peaceful night's sleep they'd had in months, and had to deal with Sally waking up first and taking all sorts of pictures of them still asleep and posting it on Facebook for her book club to coo over combined with Paul's dry remarks making them blush all morning, and ending up being ten minutes late to the swim meet in which Kyle had immediately caught on to Mr. Blowfis' knowing look and given Percy all sorts of crap for it, only worse, it was all just so…

Perfect.

Complete.

The feeling you get when you leave the house and just _know_ you've forgotten something, even when logically you can't think of anything else you'd need, was gone when they had each other walking beside them. Knowing that you don't have to get up each morning and do another day on your own was gone. Finding simple things funny and interesting suddenly wasn't so hard. Burdens and worries weren't so heavy.

There is really no way to describe it other than the cliché: that they are now complete. Like they were wheels, turning in the vast machine of life, missing tiny little slivers out of their grooves, imperfect like everyone is and just doing their jobs the best they could and succeeding. But now they fit together, completing and making up where one falls short to become that perfect system, and instead of just turning, they're _working. _They're doing something—something important, and they're doing it well.

And it was _right_. And it was how it should be.

Even if the Architect and Champion of Olympus never had another battle to fight or war to win, and even if they never did another great feat like the ones that'd earned them their titles, or the many great feats after it, they'd be perfectly happy. They'd be completely content with many a thousand more completely normal and boringly average days if it meant getting to share it with someone who made it incredible.

* * *

**Hello Internet.**

**Eh, not my favorite chapter ever, but i thought it necessary to include before the chaos tomorrow. Can't forget about the Percabeth, and getting right into their relationship twenty chapters in is like coming WAY late to the party, if ya catch my meaning...**

**Still, it was painful to write, because it's not incident-induced drama, which is why it's so short compared to the long-ish time I took to write it so... sorry.**

**Oh well.**

**Guten Tag.**


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